If This Is A Dream, Don't Wake Me Up
by OCSweetheart
Summary: The Spencer family has spent more than a handful of lifetimes traveling the world. Will their move from Hilton to the outskirts of Forks mean trouble for not only themselves but the world around them? Cora and Will never planned on screwing up a family dynamic, it just happened. So what happens when a vampire finally finds its one true mate? OC/Alice, Paul/OC/Jasper
1. Chapter 1- Spencer

It had been a lifetime. More than a lifetime actually. A lifetime and a half of travelling all around the world, finding adventure and sometimes danger. The Spencers we're a family from all walks of life whether it be a different state or a different decade. Daniel Spencer was a man of a certain age. That certain age being 40. While he was a relatively young man, his hair was completely frosted in silver, the only age marks being those around his eyes. When he was turned, Daniel worked his entire life up until that point fighting a monarchy he wanted nothing to do with. Daniel Spencer came to what would be America in 1749, Most of the colonies were established and thriving but Daniel wanted more than a monarchy. With the help of Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, John Jay, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson and none other than George Washington himself, the men built up a nation that was free from monarchy and English rule.

During American Revolution, Daniel was wounded taking a bullet. As he lay there, gasping for air, the copper taste of his own blood filled his mouth, his vision blurred and he slipped into a deep dark state of mind. When Daniel came to, all he saw was the birchwood of a wigwam. His throat had cleared of the metal taste and a burning in his chest replaced it. Daniel let out a blood curdling scream only to have a copper hand be placed over his mouth, silencing him. Bright golden eyes stared into his soul as the pain and heat continued throughout his body. Daniel sat through the sting for what seemed like months but in reality was only a few mere hours. When he awoke, his body felt better than it had in years. His throat burned as his body craved...something. He was no longer laying about the birchwood, his body had been placed in a field. By who? That was the question Daniel Spencer would never have the answer to.

Daniel never discussed his first few years as a newborn with his family. His wife, Carina, knew but as for his adoptive children, Sebastian, Will, Kiera, and Cora knew very little. Daniel Spencer now worked as an stock broker and had since before the Great Depression. Daniel first changed Carina, then Cora, Will, Sebastian, and Kiera. The family moved from place to place until people started getting suspicious. The fact Daniel still had his wrinkles from his past life helped them stay a bit longer than they normally would. It was around that time of year again. The children made their way through high school then college time and time again and now it was time to pick up and move everything.

Cora sat atop the truck, her feet dangling just above the bed as Bastian and Will shoved all of their belongings in the back.

"Ya know Cor, you could help since most of this is your stuff." Sebastian smirked, blowing his blonde hair out of his golden eyes. Kiera appeared next to Cora on top of the truck with a nail file in hand.

"True Bas, but why would I want to hinder the amazing job you both are doing." Cora said making Kiera snort.

"You done already?" Carina beamed at her boys as she came out onto the driveway.

"Kitten, Actively supervising I see." Carina didn't flinch a muscle as her husband suddenly appeared next to her. Daniel had a warm smile on his face as he looked to his eldest. Cora laughed, jumping down to the ground from the roof of the car.

"Always trying to do my part." She smiled sweetly, kissing her father on the cheek. Sebastian looked up at Kiera in adoration as she sat still on top of the packed car.

"Help me down?" How could he refuse his mate? Sebastian put his hands under her arms, leading her gracefully down to the ground. Kiera kissed his nose lightly before speeding off to grab her bag so she would be ready when they left.

"Need directions, love?" Carina asked, leaning into the window of the Mercedes SUV. Cora let her sunglasses fall down to the tip of her nose so she could look at her mother.

"No I think, we'll be alright." She smiled, nodded her head in the direction of her sister who had map in hand and aux cord ready for take off. Kiera loved the novelty of maps. Everywhere had gps now but Kiera missed holding a map in her hands and guiding herself around an unfamiliar place. Carina tapped the top of the car to signal the girls to go ahead the rest of the clan. Her boys pulled up and she did the same with the GMC truck.

"Just follow your sister, make sure she stays only five over the limit." Will laughed at his mother before nodding at her.

"Will do Ma." Carina crossed her arms and smiled at the cars disappearing off the coast of Hilton. A light kiss was placed on her shoulder and she turned and smiled.

"Ready for another adventure?" Daniel beamed. Moving was one of his favorite things. While being on this earth for almost 300 years Daniel still loved travelling about the country he helped build so many years ago. Trees passed, houses passed, people passed as the family travelled from their home in Hilton across the country to Washington. Carina adored Seattle but Daniel thought it too high profile. Kiera found them a small town around four hours west of seattle, off by the ocean. There was enough forest for them to tuck themselves away and enough loom and gloom to stay hidden for a long amount of time. The house they found was quiet and very cute. The stone landing wrapped around the entirety of it while the cozy wood features made it feel like home. Daniel knew this would be the place for his family as soon as he saw the listing.

Cora skipped the next song...and the next...and the next..Kiera's playlist wasn't the best.

"Oh for the love, just pick one Cora." Finally landing on Stealing Liquor and tossing the phone back at her sister.

"You seem quiet, it's unlike you." Kiera said as she threw her long brown locks up into a top knot. Cora thought for a second. She didn't feel like she was being more quiet than usual. She wasn't necessarily sick of moving every twenty years or so but she was just..off. She felt off and she didn't know why. Cora wanted to take this drive time to reflect on why she felt the way she did but the trip was over too soon. With Kiera in the car, laughs and reminiscing was inevitable. Soon her feeling was forgotten and the sisters were coming up around the winding bend of the woods to their new home. It was tucked away near the border of La Push where Daniel told his children not to tread until they had everything squared away at home and with the residents who already lived there.

"Hot Damn!" Yelled Sebastian, slamming the door to the trunk. Kiera rolled her eyes as she got out of the car and stood outside just beaming at the house. Cora tucked her dark tresses behind her ear and shut the door to her SUV, walking around the front to lean on the hood.

"Look at this beaut! WOO!" Kiera blurred over to Bastian, jumping onto his back and placing a hand over his mouth.

"Oh shut it! You want everyone in the state to know we're here?" She laughed, Sebastian put down his lady love before grabbing her hand to explore the house. Will walked up to meet Cora, and leaned next to her on the car. Cora rested her head on her brothers shoulder, staring at her adoptive siblings running about the house.

"Do you ever wish that you would find your-"

"Yes." He finished before she got her question out. Cora and Will were the two black sheep of the Spencer family. Mates were a very rare thing to find for a vampire but somehow Daniel, Carina, Kiera and Sebastian had all found one another. One would think that Will's clairvoyance would be help in this situation for the two but as of recently, he hadn't been getting many visions. Cora nudged her brother with an elbow before nodding in the direction of all of the luggage. It was going to be a long year. Cora could feel it.


	2. Chapter 2- New in Town

Alice held her head in her hands. She couldn't see anything about anyone for weeks and there was no explanation. Alice had visions of the future ever since she could remember but now, just gone with no insight into how or why.

"It has to do with whoever just moved into the state. I can sense them." Rosalie was insinuating other vampires had moved in and not just into state but close enough to be physically affecting the family. Jasper put his hand on Alice's thigh as she just held herself together on the couch. Jasper tried his hardest to influence her mood, anything to make her feel even a tad bit better than she was. Alice put her petite hand on top of his.

"Please don't Jas. I'd rather you didn't. But thank you." She smiled through her pain and confusion, lightly cradling his face in her hand. Jasper leaned into her palm, kissing it lightly.

Carlisle was at a loss. He sat adjacent, Esme running her hand up and down his back.

"Well, if they are that close, they have to show themselves eventually right?" Emmett asked, leaning up against a doorframe. This had never happened before and now the Cullens realized they were very ill prepared for any sort of attack.

"Jasper, can you sense anything? Anything at all?" Carlisle asked, looking up from his own pensive state.

"I can't feel any strong emotion if that's what you mean. What do you propose we do?" Carlisle sat there, hands folded, his fingers touching his mouth.

"There's not much we can do until we figure out where and who these people are."

* * *

"High school again, High school again. Jiggity-jig" Sarcasm spewed from Will's mouth as he leaned on the door of his car, sunglasses on as to not attracted attention to his piercing gold eyes. _Home of The Spartans_ , read the sign. The other siblings climbed out of the car and looked on in disgust. Starting school was always the worst part of moving. But the socializing was good for all of them.

"Alright kiddies, line it up." Keira said hopping down from the SUV. Cora, Will and Bastian obliged, making a half circle around her. The siblings removed their glasses and all stared into Kiera's eyes. A bright white ring flashes around her eyes as she looked into the eyes of her siblings. Their once golden eyes had turned a pale blue for Bastian and Cora and a deep green for Kiera and Will. Blending in was imperative so the Spencers were thankful everyday for Keira's gift. Not all vampires had a profitable gift but the Spencer children were all gifted. The Volturi were well aware of the gifts three out of the four vampires possessed but not Kiera. Kiera's gift would be used for nothing but horrible things. Daniel and Carina knew if any word of her normalizing gift was heard of in Italy, the Volturi would take their sweet girl away.

 _Jesus, I can't even begin to have the motivation for this year._

"Taking Jesus' name in vain must be double bad for the damned." Bastian said, throwing his arm around Keira as the siblings made it from the far end of the parking lot to the stairs.

"Stay out of my head you ass." Cora smacked the top of Sebastian's shoulder, making him chuckle to himself. The siblings were half way across the parking lot when a cherry red convertible and silver jeep peeled in front of them, swinging into spots.

"Wow. This town is just full of well mannered people." Will said matter-of-fact, making Cora let out a puff of air in a laugh. She smiled and hooked arms with Will, walking past the pair of cars that had so rudely cut them off.

"Well where we come from, people don't walk in the middle of the parking lot." The brawny dark haired boy who sat atop the Jeep said. Spencers knew no human would have been able to hear them so the four ignored them and walked on.

Jasper hopped out of the drivers side door and wrapped an arm around Alice who pecked him on the cheek. She didn't remember seeing them around and it wasn't like she could have sensed them or seen them coming. The girls were very pretty. One petite with sharp features and the other shapely, both with brunette locks. Alice deduced they were sisters. The boys looked to be related as well with their blonde curls.

"Well they are cute." Rose said, hand-in-hand with Emmett. Emmett nodded along, watching the sisters in front of him sway.

"Very hot." Rose quickly smacked his chest, just hard enough to get a reaction.

"Not funny." She said as they followed the siblings in front of them. It took everything in Cora's power to not turn around and look at the family behind them. She felt deep down that there was something different about them.

"Core, stop. You're gonna make a scene." Will whispered down to his sister. She hated when he did that. It drove her nuts when he got into her head like that. The Spencers got their schedules then met at Cora's locker to discuss.

"Well it doesn't look like we have a lot of classes together. There's always a first time for everything I guess. Meet up at lunch?" Kiera and Bastian nodded and headed down the hallway hand-in-hand. Cora turned to Will who was still leaning up against a locker.

"Do I have to make you go myself?" Will shrugged and Cora pushed him off with one foot. A smirking Will sauntered his way down the hall and Cora laughed at all the girls who had to do a double take on her brother. When Will was turned, Cora and him had tried their hardest at mating but they just weren't meant for one another. Cora looked down at her schedule as the bell rang. _Oh just fucking perfect_. She made it as fast as humanly possibly to her AP History class and just as she has suspected, she was late.

"Ah. You must be Ms. Spencer. Starting the year off right I see." Cora looked to the teacher and back at the class before speaking.

"Big school, new surroundings you know?" Mr. Calvin laughed at the vampire before directing her to the back of the class.

"Please just take a seat with Mr. Hale Ms. Spencer." Cora looked over to see one of the five people in the cars from this morning. _Oh Brilliant._ She plopped herself down next to the man and set her books on the table. _Another year of this...unbelievable._ She glanced over to the boy next to her who was enthralled with his book. _Great Gatsby hmm_.

"Hi, I'm Cora, We must not have gotten off on the right foot this morning. She said in a hushed tone. He didn't even flinch. Not even a glance up.

"What? They don't give you names where youre from? Or are you just mute?" A sigh emitted from the lean man and he set his book down to listen to the lesson. Cora raised her eyebrows and turned to listen herself. World War II. _Of course_. She laughed to herself and didn't even bother to pay attention. After a few more minutes of silence between the two Mr. Hale actually spoke.

"Jasper."

"I'm sorry is that a name? Am I worthy of being spoken to now?" She laughed to herself, scribbling away in her notebook. Then more silence. Cora glanced up from her notes to see the glint of gold in the boys eyes and her mind went right where it shouldn't have. There was no way they would move somewhere where the territory was already claimed. Daniel would have researched it. She chalked it up to her just being on edge that day and suddenly the bell rang. Class was done and it was onto the next adventure. AP Bio. Oh the joys. At least she would have Bastian in this class. As per classic Sebastian, he was seated in the back right corner, not paying attention like normal. As she walked up behind him, she loudly dropped her books down, making him jump.

"Very funny Core." She shrugged. Cora thought she was funny.

"I'm hilarious."

"Yeah sur-"

"Hey, you guys are new here right?" The siblings looked up at the tousled locks that stood before them. Cora caught the eyes once more. Golden. She knew she wasn't crazy.

"Depends." Cora said, uneasy and not sure what to think of this stranger.

"On who's asking." Bastian finished, sizing up the pale boy that stood before the two.

"I just wanted to apologize for how my family cut you guys off this morning. It's no exactly...like us to do that." Bastian lifted a hand and started shaking his finger at the guy.

"Ah, rude family. That's who's asking. Yeah Sebastian Spencer. This is my sister Cora." Bastian shook a thumb Cora's direction and she simply pulled out her biology book.

"Edward Cullen. Again, sorry. See ya around." Cora didn't even look up from her book before speaking to her brother.

"That was weird." Bastian scoffed.

"No, you know what's weird? Not being able to hear his thoughts. That's what's weird." Cora knew the reason for it though. Her brother may have the power of mind reading on his side but without it he was a total idiot. Actually he was an inept idiot with it anyway so it didn't matter whether he could use his power or not. This would be something to bring up at home as to not risk anyone who could hear in the school, hear it.

The bell rang for lunch and Cora and Bastian couldn't make it out of there fast enough. While they didn't eat, a much needed break was welcoming.

Keira had snagged a table off in the corner near the windows and sat poking at a salad she had no intention of eating. Will, sunglasses never torn from his face from earlier that morning, planted himself across from his sister.

"Nice Will, you look like you have a hangover." Cora said, pulling his sunglasses off with the hook of her finger and setting a tray down. Sebastian came up behind Keira silently as to surprise her with light kisses in the crook of her neck. Keira giggled in delight before shoving the boy off to his own chair but not before Bas stole a carton of milk for appearances.

"So how's everybody's day?" He prodded. Will and Cora rolled their eyes, tossing French fries in his direction.

"Oh boy, here comes things one through five." Keira laughed at Sebastian's joke as Cora and will turned to glance at the door from the outside. In walked Edward from before and his siblings following in.

"What's the deal with them?" Will asked, putting his sunglasses back on his face. Sebastian leaned in, hands crossed in front of him on the table.

"So I heard from this little brunette Jessica that their dad is a doctor and he just adopted all these kids. And decided to play matchmaker too. So they aren't just together they're _together_."

"Sound like anyone you know Bas?" Cora said, a rhetorical question indeed. Daniel had done the same thing with the Spencer kids.

"You're not telling me they're-" Cora's eyes flashed and a gold ring shined around them. Sebastian had lost the ability to speak all together. Something he was used to Cora doing.

"Shut up you idiot. Don't you think if they were or are they could be listening right now?" Sebastian nodded in agreement. Cora's eyes flashed once more, giving him the ability to speak again.

"I hate it when she does that." Sebastian said, moving his lips around in a dramatic fashion to make sure they still worked. Keira places a soft kiss on him, making him shut it.

"One thing is for sure," Will crossed his arms and glanced at the table of Cullens in front of them.

"We gotta tell dad."

 **Author's note: Thank you all for the views! This story is something Ive only just thought up so bare with me. Here are a couple links to all the characters if you guys would like: Link here**


	3. Chapter 3- The Thing about the Cullens

Jasper awoke from his meditative state and turned over to hold Alice in his arms just a but before school. His arm reached out and was met with soft sheets and a cool mattress. His eyes shot open immediately and looked for any sign she was recently in their room. The shower wasn't going, she wasn't in her closet. Jasper was at a loss. He got up from the bed, rubbing the back of his neck and walked himself to the bathroom to get ready. There wasn't a note, nothing. He assumed since her headaches were getting so bad she got up early to get something to eat. A sensible thing to do of course considering they went to a high school full of humans.

Jasper was finishing the buttons on his shirt when his feet hit the kitchen. The family was all gathered around the island minus Rose and Alice. The southern vampire raised an eyebrow at Emmett who caught onto what he meant.

"Ally had a bad night with the headaches so her and Rose are out running it off, getting a bite. Ya know. Girl stuff" Carlisle came up behind the new vegetarian and placed a hand on his back as he passed to get to his wife.

"They'll be back any second. You all have to leave soon anyway." At Carlisle's words two small arms wrapped around Jasper's torso, pulling him close. Alice smiled into the back of his shirt and inhaled his scent. She couldn't see for three weeks now and headaches were getting worse and worse by the day.

"Let's hit it then." Emmett said, tossing car keys at Jasper and putting his arm around Rose, leading her to the car.

* * *

"Maybe she just can't stand your snoring." Emmett joked, his hand grasping the roof of the jeep. Jasper rolled his eyes. He didn't snore and they didn't sleep. Alice seemed distant and he knew it was because of the headaches. He just wished there was something he could do about it. Emmett was no help and Edward was as sullen as ever.

"I just don't think that there will be much we can do until we find out who and where these vampires are." Jasper's drawl was coming out a little more than usual. Rose beeped her horn at the jeep filled with men to get Jasper to look at her. With raised eyebrows she had a very mischievous glint in her eye.

"Oh sweet, race her Jas." Emmett, the one and only adrenaline junkie boomed. Jasper rolled his eyes at the idea but was determined after Alice had stuck her tongue out at him. _Oh that's it._ The two cars raced one another into the parking lot to see who could snag a spot first. Without paying attention to whoever was in the lot, Jasper and Rose peeled into their usual spots in the corner at split seconds from one another.

"Oh I totally had you!" She yelled at him as she wrapped an arm around Emmett's torso. Jasper smirked at the small blonde.

"Now I don't know about that." Jasper countered, linking hands with Alice.

"Wow. This town is just full of well mannered people." The Cullens all turned to look at the people who stood in the middle of the parking lot. Rose shot a nasty look toward the tall boy who made the comment, receiving a small elbow from Emmett.

"Babe, let it go." With an eye roll she tugged Emmett along with her, following the group in front.

"Well they are cute." Rose said, hand-in-hand with Emmett. Emmett nodded along, watching the sisters in front of him sway.

"Very hot." Rose quickly smacked his chest, just hard enough to get a reaction.

"Not funny."

Alice took note she had never seen them around school before. Or around town for that matter. The brunette in front had a slender frame and held onto the lean blond next to her much in the way Rose held onto Emmett. The couple in back however, didn't look thrilled in the least to be there. The small brunette pulled her hair up and Alice tried to get a whiff of any sort of scent but she only pulled up the top half of her bob. Jasper looked on, curious at the four. If anyone was new to town, surely Carlisle would have brought it up or at least have known about it. What was it to them? Just another family of humans that they would have to hide from and he would have to control himself around.

"Oh AP History first thing lucky you!" Alice was always chipper. She never wanted anyone to feel bad for her or see if anything was bothering her. She passed Jasper's schedule back to him and he sighed, leaning up against her locker. A new year, another year of everyone thinking they were a bunch of freaks. Not like they weren't, but with super hearing it's pretty upsetting to listen to all day.

"I think I'll be able to see you again at the end of the day right before the bell in Bio." She smiled up at her mate. Jasper was happy she finally seemed to be in a better mood despite her powers disappearing.

"Oh boy, more listening to things I already know." Jasper's mouth formed a small smile in an ironic sort of way. He was a Major for crying out loud. The last thing he needed was more history lessons.

"Just please try to have a good time, I'll see you later." Alice beamed, pecking Jasper on the cheek before running off. When Jasper made it to Mr. Calvin's class, he was the first one in and filled in the back to make himself as unnoticed and non bothersome as possible. The class filed in slowly and Jasper took this time to pull out a book to read. By the time class had started, all the seats were filled minus the one next to Jasper. No one wanted to sit next to the freak Hale sibling. Rosalie had no problem making friends, or really getting people to talk about her. She was pretty and short with people but she was rememberable and she didn't look like she wanted to eat you all the time. Jasper wished he didn't have that effect on people but at the same time it was nice to just sit alone for a while.

"Ah Ms. Spencer, way to start off the year I see. Sit next to Mr. Hale please." well there went that solitude. Jasper looked up for a brief moment at the woman coming his way. She was small, probably a mere 5'3. She reminded him of Alice minus the petite frame. Ms. Spencer was built like a woman that sir is a fact. If she was born during the greek period, her body would have been molded by sculptors. She was by no means stick skinny but Ms. Spencer wasn't a large girl either. Her hair fell right above her shoulders into a not quite bob. She had a bad habit of pushing the hair behind her ears, Jasper noticed. Her eyes were a piercing blue, almost electric the way they were it seemed as if you could lose your soul. Good for him, he didn't have one left. She sat herself next to him and pulled out her book. Jasper, having no need for the book, or to even speak with the woman he almost ran over this morning, did not say a word and just continued with his reading.

""Hi, I'm Cora, We must not have gotten off on the right foot this morning." _Cora._ He said it over and over again in his head before shaking the thought out. He didn't know why that happened and he didn't want it to again.

""What? They don't give you names where youre from? Or are you just mute?" Jasper glanced at her quickly enough no human would see. He saw her sigh and flip through pages before she placed her chin in her hand, daydreaming the class away.

"Jasper" He said quickly, not taking his eyes off of his pages.

"I'm sorry is that a name? Am I worthy of being spoken to now?" She laughed to herself, scribbling away in her notebook. Jasper let out a puff of air from his nose. She was quick as a whip, that's for sure. The bell rang, ending the World War II lesson and Jasper pushed past the small Spencer, his hand lightly touching her back for mere seconds to get by her. A sensation he had never felt before pulsed through his hand and he withdrew it quickly. Jasper raced out of the room, down to his next class. When he sat down Jasper just stared down at his hand, flexing it and moving it around. He had never felt something like that before when he touched any other person human let alone vampire. It was like an electric current had pulsed through him when he touched Cora's back. Jasper shoved his hand into his pocket and shook his head. He had to have made that up in his mind...didn't he?

* * *

"Where'd Alice go?" Jasper asked Rose, hands still shoved into his pockets from his incident earlier. Rose had a apologetic face on while Emmett held open the door to the cafeteria.

"She left around fourth period. Her head was too much so she just went home to lay down." Jasper nodded in understanding, walking into the cafeteria with his siblings. Edward pat him slightly on the back in reassurance. He didn't want reassurance. He wanted Alice.

"Oh of course the Kennedy family has taken our spot. Everyone knows it's our spot!" Rose said noticing the placement of the Spencer children. Emmett laughed deeply, kissing the top of Rosalie's head.

"Just sit in the one behind them, it doesn't matter." Rosalie wasn't kind when it came to humans and ignorant humans worse. Jasper pulled out a chair on the outside of the table to look outside. His mind wondered and he just wished Alice would start talking to him again.

* * *

"Dad! Where you at?! We have problems! And I mean BIG prob-" Cora's rant was cut short when she stumbled upon her father and a stranger sitting at the kitchen island in the middle of what seemed to be a deep conversation.

"Welcome home kitten, how was school?" Carina cooed, pouring out more warm elk from the tea kettle in her hand. Cora's mouth hung open, at a loss of words for she didn't know what to even begin to say. Kiera suddenly appeared next to her sister.

"You forgot something." Kiera's eyes flashed a bright white, turning her sisters blue eyes back to their original gold.

"There, silly to be hiding all the way out her-"

"Kiera."

"What?" Cora pointed to the stranger sitting with their father and mother, still unable to come up with an explanation for her yelling or why her sisters eyes just did what they did.

"Oh, I, uh...see I have really bad cataracts..and I...uh-" Daniel put up a hand to silence his daughters.

"Cora, Kiera, this is Dr Carlisle Cullen." Will walked into the kitchen as soon as the words were spoken and threw his jacket up on the hook.

"Any relation to the shitty Cullens at school by chance?" Seb high fives his brother, placing both hands on Kiera's hips passing her.

"William." Carina scolded. Carlisle laughed lightly from the island at the young blond.

"Those are my children yes." Carlisle had finally turned around in his seat to look at the Spencer children and Cora still was at a loss of words. His golden eyes shone brightly in the warm household, confirming the suspicions she had.

"I take it, this is what you were referring to by big problem kitten?" Cora crossed her arms and leaned into the doorframe.

"In a manner of speaking yes. Yes I was referring to that."

"It explains why I can't see shit." Will shouted from the couch, still donning his sunglasses. Will was miserable not being about to see anything let alone have this ridiculous headache.

"Well Carlisle is here not only to extend a welcome but a warning, we have to go to La Push land to sort it out. That means you kids stay here and stay out of trouble while we go." Bastian sat up from his longing position and turned around to face his father.

"That's not fair. We've never seen shifters." Daniel shot a pointed look to his youngest.

"Life's not fair Bas." He crossed his arms and turned himself back to face the tv. Daniel grabbed a jacket and helped his wife into her own.

"Follow me out and I'll show you the way. Nice to meet you kids." Carlisle said before disappearing.

"Cora, keep them in line." Was the last thing Daniel said to them before blurring off to the reservation they were forbidden to be on. Silence enveloped the room until the no eyed wonder spoke up.

"So are we following them?" Will asked out loud to no one in particular. Cora sped to the door to the back yard and held it open.

"You bet your ass we are one-eyed Willy. Come on you two." Sebastian was the first up and out of the house to the first tree.

"Cora, dad said-"

"Kiera, dad isn't here. That means I'm in charge. So let's go see what forbidden actually means." Kiera reluctantly blurred off with her siblings through the forest. The road only went so far until it turned to dirt.

"What are we even looking for?" Kiera asked, bringing up the back. Cora sat still and held up a hand to silence the other three and breathed in deeply.

"Think wet dog smell. This way." She said running at heightened speed towards the trail. The smell got stronger and stronger the closer they got to the water. Sebastian, in his excitement, ran ahead of his sister, following the scent. He reached the edge of the dividing creek and leaped into what they assumed was La Push territory. As soon as his feet left the ledge, a giant wolf snatched Sebastian out of the air and into the water. If Kiera has a heart, it would have stopped right then and there.

"Bas!" Will yelled, digging his feet into the ground to make him stop before the creek. His arm jutted out just enough to stop his sisters from making the same mistake.

"Shit!" Sebastian struggled in the wolf's mouth and Kiera's nails dig into her sister.

"Do something!" A blinding ring flashed around Cora's eyes as she stared at the wolf. It helped out in pain and a far away growl was heard on the other edge of the wood. Sebastian took this distraction to blur himself over to Kiera, hands on his knees, unneeded panting. Cora lifted the wolf off of the ground, it still writhing in pain and threw it into a large tree, all without moving a muscle. Two smaller wolves came out of the brush to check on the one that had just been thrown half a mile.

"Let's go."

"Cora, we can't, we have to head bac-"

"Now Kiera!" She hissed, running faster than she ever had to reach their father.

"Seb where's mom and dad?" Cora yelled as trees past by them in a lightning speed.

"Uh, shit...gimme a sec." Sebastian said trying to tap into their minds. They had to be close.

"Any time now Bastian!" Will was urgent in his request, looking down at the pack of wolves that had begun to catch up with them.

"On your left!" Kiera yelled and Will straight armed a pouncing wolf.

"They're close. Dad's pissed but he said to head north to a red house." Cora rolled her eyes. Brilliant. This was supposed to be quick and easy. She didn't realize the multitude of wolves that inhabited the woods. They finally reached the edge of the wood and a red paneled house was in sight. A very angry, stone cold Daniel stood outside next to a not so forgiving Carina and a man in a wheelchair. The siblings appears in front of them as fast as they possibly could.

"Dad! We-" the look alone silenced Cora. Carina latched onto the ears of both William and Sebastian, making the boys cringe.

"Ma! Come on, would you just-"

"I guess these would be your children." Said the russet skinned man. Kiera was the first to introduce herself. In her skittish, nervous nature, she spoke quickly. The man jumped in surprise as the woman appeared in front of him.

"Hi sir, I'm so sorry for all of the trouble we've caused. We didn't mean any trouble at all, honest, I don't know how to say we're sorry enough-"

"You must be Kiera." He laughed out his crows feet prominent. Kiera looked wide eyed at the long haired man.

"Yes, yes I am." Kiera stood up straight and went to stand by her father as to not cause anymore trouble. In that time the wolves had made it back to the edge, almost charging the group.

"Sam that's enough!" The man put his hand up, halting the wolves in their tracks, teeth still barred.

"Billy, sorry about my kids, these two idiots are Will and Sebastian." The boys both raised a reluctant hand each to wave at the man they had disturbed. Neither making eye contact with the man but glancing up in embarrassment.

"The mouthy one is Cora, and you've met Kiera." Cora, hands behind her back, looked up at Billy with sad golden eyes.

"The doctor put in a good word for you Daniel. I will have to speak during the council meeting on Friday about extending a new treaty. I'd like you and your family to be there. Put it in writing."

"You sure about all of them?" Carina hissed at her boys, still latched on to their ears. Billy laughed at the blonde woman before him.

"Yeah even the idiots." A breeze blew by and the smell of wet dog was prominent in the air, at lest to the Spencers. From the wood, three men appeared all donning the same tattoo and all only wearing shorts. They stopped just watching them

The entire time.

"I think it's time we took our leave. We'll coordinate for Friday. Thank you so much for your hospitality Billy. Really." Daniel said. Carina released her boys ears and went off with her husband.

"Again, really sorry." Kiera said before grabbing Sebastian's hand and running off to their own home. Will reached out for Cora who was still embarrassed at her behavior.

"Sorry for all the trouble. Again." Billy nodded, accepting her apology. Will and Cora ran off to catch up with the others and as soon as they were gone, the men disappeared back into the woods.


	4. Chapter 4- Wolves and Other Things

"Come on you can do better than that." Rose poked and prodded at Emmett's ego as they arm wrestled. Jasper laughed at the scene over the brim of his book. Alice sat across from him on the couch, just enjoying the feeling of his hand on her calf, lightly drawing circles. She felt better than earlier in the day but her mind was blank nonetheless. The slam of the front door and the persistent smell of wet dog covered the house. All of the Cullens stood up, ready to come at whoever entered the house.

"Where's Dr. Vamp. We have some problems." Sam Uley was as menacing as he could muster. Carlisle appeared in front of him, hand out, protecting the red of his clan.

"Sam let's take this outside. No one needs to be hurt."

"Tell that to Paul. If any one of you come on our land again, chief orders or not, I will rip every single one of your children's heads off." He said before running back out the door. Carlisle closed his eyes briefly and opened them again with a small groan.

"What was that?" Rosalie all but screamed. Emmett was visibly riled up and jasper held onto Alice who stood in front of him.

"We haven't even been out to hunt yet today." Alice countered, confused at the wolf's behavior.

"There must have been some confusion on the treaty line. I knew I should have gone with them to Billy's"

"Billy Black?" Edward asked, his face contorted in a confused manner.

"Why would you need to go see him?" Emmett asked, crossing his arms. Carlisle was avoiding telling his children about the Spencers until the treaty was made by them. It would have just been easier to explain it all together rather than have a conglomeration of vampires in once space. That would really piss off the reservation.

"The patriarch of a new clan sought me out today. He, his wife, and his four children have just moved to Forks. I sent them to Billy to make sure no treaty was ever broken and to ensure less bloodshed in the future." Alice's mouth opened in confusion.

"So do you think I can't see anything because of this family? Because of something they've done." She was almost to hysterics. Jasper kisses the top of her head and tightened his grip on her, His fingers lingering on her hips tightly.

"There's no way to know for sure, until we meet with them on a formal," He looked to Rosalie

"Friendly, basis." Carlisle left it at that and walked off to see where Esme had run off to. He needed to tell her of the inadvertent trouble he had caused.

"Edward, if they're close can you hear any of their thoughts?" Jasper asked, tightening his grip on Alice only to have her run out tonto the deck and down into the wood.

"I can try but I'm going to have to concentrate." He said and head up to his room to focus. Rose pecked Emmett on the cheek.

"I'm going to go check on Alice. I've never seen her act this way before" Jasper was tired of this. Alice came to him for everything and now nothing.

"Emmett, we're getting to the bottom of this. I can't take any more waiting" Emmett clasped his hand together.

"Hell yeah!" He was excited someone was actually going to take action around here. The house was quiet when everyone left the den. Emmett stood outside the house waiting for Jasper to grab an item of Carlisle's. Jasper appeared next to Emmett, holding Carlisle's jacket.

"It's not a strong scent but it'll do."

"Not in my nature to back down from a challenge." Jasper smirked at his brothers reply before running to find the source. If they were close or anywhere in the area within the last 24 hours, they would find them.

* * *

"So when I talk do you all just hear what the cartoon kids in the peanuts hear or what's the deal?"

"Dad," Will sighed. Dramatics was key in this family.

"No, I wanna know, because if that's the case, I'd like to know how to get my points across to you kids." Cora sat in silence for the first time in a long time, her legs folded on the couch and hand resting in her lap. Will, unphased by the dramatics, stretched his body as long as it would go, one foot up on the coffee table and his arms resting on the back of the couch. Sebastian and Kiera stood in silence, staring at the ground, feeling their mothers gaze on them. Carina was not happy. Not in the least and while Daniel was the head of this family she was the neck.

"We just wanted to-"

"Wanted what Cora?! Please tell me what it is you all thought you were doing. Enlighten me."

"We're all a lifetime old! You can't keep treating us like we're a burden or that we don't belong in the world." Cora said in a huff. It was almost so fast it didn't make any sense. Daniel deeply sighed and sat down in the armchair next to his eldest, placing a hand on her knee.

"As silly as it sounds, I want to protect you kids. In this lifetime, however long it may be, are everything to me. You all have very rare, very special gifts. I don't want to protect you guys from the world. I would never want that. I want to protect the world from you. There are things out there that would feel threatened if you even breathed their direction let alone if you showed what you were." Cora averted her eyes from Daniel and sat in contemplative silence. Carina sat on the arm of the couch and put an arm around her eldest son.

"Not to mention if you showed your special abilities. We love you." Carina looked from Will to Kiera and Sebastian.

"All of you. So very very much."

"But," Daniels hands were folded his elbows resting on his knees.

"You're right kitten. We shouldn't be shielding you from everything. From now on, every big decision will be made by this family. Not by one person. Agreed?" All of The children nodded. Carina placed a kiss to Will's temple before pulling his sunglasses from his face causing him to groan.

"That doesn't explain why I can't see anything. No one else has had an issue with their powers. Why me?" Will squinted, his head in pain. Daniel unfortunately didn't have an answer for Will. He hoped after Friday things would calm down and they could get to the bottom of everything but only time would tell. Cora shifted her weight, resting her head on wills shoulder, his arm came around in a comforting embrace, holding her to him.

* * *

"It's off this way!" Emmett yelled, far ahead of his brother. Jaspers senses were heightened as they approached a clearing. He felt a wave of emotions his him as they came upon a large house. They two Cullens stayed up in the trees peering into what looked to be a den.

"It's those Spencer kids." Emmett deduced noticing the bright blonde mop of hair donned by one of the brothers. Jasper didn't know which emotion to focus on. The house emitted a wave of anger, fear, and embarrassment. His eyes focused in on the man sitting in the armchair adjacent Cora. Did her brother ever take those sunglasses off? He watched as Cora leaned into him, snuggling into his arm. Jasper's focus on her pushed all the emotions she felt out to him. She was embarrassed and scared. He felt this force in him that wanted to push him forward, to rip her out of the arms of what he assumed was her mate. His thoughts wandered to his hand from earlier in the day. Flexing his hand, Jasper hit the tree and ran off back to the house, ignoring the calls from Emmett.

* * *

Cora put on what seemed to be her fourth sweatshirt and still didn't like what she saw in the mirror. She didn't understand why they had to cover up. It's not like the shifters tried to mask their own scent, why should they? Will popped his head into her room, hugging the door frame with one hand.

"Dad wants to know if you're ready to leave." Cora threw a puffy vest on over herself and let her hair hang down.

"I guess." She sighed, putting on a Mariners baseball cap.

"Okay" Will mouthed, patting the doorframe and leaving down the stairs.

Kiera stole her own hat off of Sebastian as they waited for their sister to come down stairs. Daniel held open the door for each of the family members to file out. Daniel, before closing the door, placed a light kiss on Cora's forehead, putting her in a slightly better mood. Not to draw anymore unwanted attention, the family piled into the SUV and headed down to the reservation.

"So what's this treaty even going to entail?" Will asked, helping Cora out of the car and slamming the door. Daniel wrapped an arm around his wife as his family walked down to the roaring fire. All around it we're already on edge as soon as the Spencers pulled in.

"Alright no one is going to answer me? Cool. Good." Cora snorted at her brothers antics and grabbed his arms to throw around her shoulders. Will was her best friend in this lifetime. Despite not being mates, they still had a strong connection with one another and love each other dearly. Talking ceased as they came upon the ring of people.

"Billy." Daniel greeted, shaking hands with the copper skinned man.

"Please, have a seat." The family did as they were told and took seats around the fire. The shifters sat across from them, flames licking their faces.

"These cold ones have come seeking asylum. They wish no harm to any of us." Sam scoffed, shifting in his seat.

"Tell that to Paul. He's still healing from that bitch." Cora went to stand but couldn't, being held down by William. An intrusive thought from Seb entered her mind. Don't. Just leave it be.

"A misunderstanding. Cora was only protecting her family. As were we. The Spencers wish to have a treaty." Groans ensued from one side of the fire.

"How many life suckers are we going to break bread with chief?" Jared said, almost to the point of shaking.

"I am chief. They want asylum and safety. They have promised to not set foot on our land. Tonight's meeting is to put that into writing." Cora had the feeling of guilt envelop her. She wanted to apologize. She didn't know who Paul was but she felt the deep need to apologize for her behavior. It was animalistic and unlike her. Her brother was in danger, what was she supposed to do? Will and Sebastian spoke with Daniel and Sam, trying to make things right. Cora looked to her mother and Kiera, who spoke with one of the shifters mothers. She glanced to Billy who sat near Jared and took this opportunity to speak with him.

"Mr. Black."

"Just Billy is fine Cora," He said looking up at her. Cora Sat down on a stump next to the man's chair to be eye level with him.

"I could never express how sorry I am about what happened yesterday. And if it's at all possible I'd like to apologize to Paul. I'm not sure how much pain I've caused him but I'd like to make it up somehow." Jared laughed to himself making Cora shoot him a sharp look.

"Paul I'd the biggest hot head of them all."

"Yeah it's an awful idea." Jared laughed

"You shouldn't go alone." Billy made Jared laugh even harder

"You really shouldn't." He snorted

"Take Jared with you." Jared laughing ceased immediately.

"You have got to be kidding me." Cora smirked at the pup as she stood up, brushing herself off.

"Lead the way." She smiled, crossing her arms at the groaning Jared. Jared argued with Billy for a a few seconds. He wasn't up for holding Paul back from a vampire, and he really wasn't up for trying to keep Paul from killing him for bringing a vampire into his house.

"Well try to keep up." Jared grumbled, shoving his hands into his sweatshirt. Cora gleefully followed the shifters down the road to what she assumed would be Paul's house.

"You aren't taking me down this way just to kill me right?" Jared howled with a large laugh.

"That's funny. Nope. Alpha orders get obeyed whether we want them to or not." Cora pulled her hood up and put her own hands in her sweatshirt. This treaty business gave her the opportunity to learn about a group of people she wouldn't normally have any information about and after being in school for 80 years, that was refreshing.

"So do you all just live on the reservation?" Jared stopped in his tracks.

"Look," He tried not to meet her eyes with his own.

"This treaty means we're good. Like I don't kill you, you don't kill me. Unless we have to. We don't exchange pleasantries unless we _have_ to okay?" _alright fine._ Cora didn't like his tone but then again, she wasn't in any position to be complaining about pleasantries. The rest of the wall was made in silence and unfortunately it wasn't a short walk. After about five more minutes, they reached a small ranch house.

"Alright, he probably can already smell you so he's more on edge than he usually is. I'm going to go in before you, just follow in behind me alright?" Cora nodded and walked closely to the back of Jared. He poked his head in the front door and saw no sign of Paul. He must be in his room.

"Come on." Jared reached out his hand reluctantly to guide her in. When their hands touched both recoiled. Cora stared down at her hand. She felt like she had just put her hand down on a stove burner and never let it off. The contrast was so obvious it almost felt like it hurt.

"Shit!" Jared yelled in a hushed tone, immediately cradling his hand.

"I've never touched one of you before good God that's cold!" Cora rolled her eyes and flexed her fingers.

"Like touching molten lava is any better. Get over yourself!" Cora whispered rather loudly. Jared rolled his eyes and told Cora to follow him. He just wanted to get this done and over with. Paul's door was open a tad and knocked once before opening it enough to just reveal himself.

"Hey man." He said with a small sad smile. Paul was laid up in bed, wrapping covering his entire torso. He perked up at hearing Jared's voice. Paul had been stuck in his house for all of 26 hours and it was driving him nuts. Having the vampire doctor come in and set his shattered pelvis was bad enough, now he couldn't even walk down the street to the bonfire. Emily and Sue brought him food of course but it wasn't the same. He was sitting out on the action for only a day and it was making him mad.

"Hey dude. Bring anything back?" Jared rubbed the back of his neck. He knew what Paul meant but he didn't bring him the food he was looking for.

"Uh...I guess I kinda did." He said pushing the door all the way open with his foot. Paul wrinkled his nose as the smell smacked him in the face. It was as if someone soaked his house in bleach and then decided to make a steaming plate of pancakes covered in syrup. It was sickeningly sweet and Paul was visibly shaking at the sight of the young woman standing behind Jared.

"You brought her here?! Are you stupid!?" Paul wanted to shift but everything in his body told him not to. The pain from his pelvis, the bruised ribs that were still healing, everything told him no.

"Woah woah woah man, she wanted to apologize." Paul laughed ironically at the situation.

"Apologize? Like I'd take one from some life sucking leech. Get her off the land and out of my house before I do it myself Jared." Cora pulled her hood up further onto her head.

"It doesn't look like you're in any position to be throwing threats around. I just came to apologize for the misunderstanding you ass." Cora said, force of habit. She wanted to cover her mouth she felt so dumb for saying anything. Paul was handsome and if he didn't smell like wet dog she'd think he was cute when he was mad but right now he was just angry and drenched in sweat from what she assumed was a fever. Paul's jaw tightened and he finally looked at Cora whose eyes stayed plastered at the ground.

"Don't start talking to me about throwing things lady." Cora looked up and caught his eye. Paul's face immediately softened and the two stared at one another for what seemed like hours. If she had any breath it would be caught in her throat. His body filled with a warm feeling of adoration as he stared into the bright golden eyes of the vampire before him. Cora felt everything inside her pulling her to him. It was like another force had taken over and there was no one else on this earth, just them. Jared looked between the two. Back and forth. Back and forth. Back and forth. His mouth agape in horror.

"Oh my God. No fucking way." Cora and Paul never looked at Jared as he stood there in complete disarray.

"You two have _got_ to be kidding me right now!" Cora shook her head to get rid of the thoughts and finally looked at Jared.

"I have to go." Bastian intruded on her thoughts, pushing himself in. _You alright? You're mind is all over the place. Need us to come find you?_ Cora shook her head.

"No Bas I'm fine." Cora, with her vampire speed, ran off to find her family to leave. Jared looked at Paul who had a look of confusion, anger, and love all rolled into one.

"A vampire _and_ she talks to herself. Jackpot." Paul scowled at Jared for trying to lighten the mood. This had never happened in Quileute history. So why now?

* * *

It was evident something had happened between the wolves because the talking had just ceased. Daniel looked around and his wife latched onto his upper arm.

"Let's go." Cora said, appearing between her parents.

"Well why don't we-"

"Now mom, we have to go now." Cora didn't wait for them, she ran off to the house by herself. Kiera let go of Sebastian's hand and gave him a questioning look before running off after her sister.

"I guess we'll be leaving now. Billy, thank you for this opportunity." Daniel ushered all the children into the car and tore out of the grass down the road back to Forks.

"What's going on?" Carina asked, looking in the mirror at Bastian who was tapping into Cora's thoughts.

"Core isn't letting me in. I got nothing."

"Well try any one of the shifters." Will yelled trying to get a handle on what was happening. Daniel screeched to a stop.

"Sebastian do not violate their thoughts. A pack is sacred you have to respect that. Especially after what we just did." Sebastian was so focused he didn't hear a word Daniel said to him. He pushed past all the angry thought and found the ones he was looking for.

 _Is that even possible?!_ A voice sebastian deduced was Jared.

 _There's no known reason for why we imprint. Just theories Jared._

 _Well what the fuck am I supposed to do Sam? I wanted to kill her 24 hours ago and now I want to- God I don't even want to think about that._ Sebastian came out of his trance and looked up from his feet.

"Imprint?" He said out loud, hoping someone would have an explanation. He looked to Daniel whose face became hardened. Peeling out of the side of the road, Daniel made it the few miles back home quickly, everyone scrambling to get out of the car to get inside. Cora was obviously distraught, biting at her nails and pacing around the den.

"Cora just tell me what happened." Kiera reasoned. Sebastian came in and plopped himself right in the armchair, spreading himself out.

"I'll tell ya what happened. She's an imprint. Whatever that means." Cora didn't know what it meant but she knew it filled her with a warmth and a feeling she didn't want. At least not to Paul. They were from two completely different worlds. It didn't make any sense. Cora let out a scream in frustration just as Will walked in behind Daniel. He shot a pointed look towards Bastian who shrugged.

"Really necessary? Nice Bas." Will threw his jacket at Sebastian who failed at catching it.

"What?" Sebastian was smart but social cues were his fault. Hence, inept idiot. Will held Cora by the elbows, turning her to face him.

"Hey! Look at me. It's going to be fine. We're gonna be fine." He grasped her chin with his forefinger and thumb, making her look up. She looked so broken, so confused and hurt. She didn't wish this upon herself and it surely wasn't in mind when she said she wanted to find her mate. She was distraught and in disarray, crying tears she could never shed. Cora buried her face in Willis chest, who wrapped both arms around her and kissed the top of her head. It was at this moment a long howl was heard and it echoed throughout the house. Whatever this was or was going to be was definitely going to be tricky.


	5. Chapter 5- Headaches, Headaches

Paul was angry. Angry at himself for having such a dumb imprint. It was physically impossible for them to even conceive so what would be the point of a vampire imprint. His soul was fueled with rage and disgust while his heart hurt. He saw the pain in her eyes when she left in a haste and it killed him inside to feel everything she did. When she left his heart called out. He wanted to follow her, to hold her, to breath her in even if it killed him. In his place, his brothers followed the Spencers to their home, to check on Cora.

 _Paul isn't going to like this._ Jared was upset he even had to go find Cora let alone bring back what he saw. Paul would know though.

 _At Least she's being comforted_ Sam countered, trying to bring levity to the situation.

 _She's being comforted by someone else? She's hurt and I'm not there. God how could I be so stupid._ Paul's emotions flooded the two wolves who let out deep, long howls into the night sky.

* * *

"What do you mean they cancelled dinner?" Rosalie said through gritted teeth. She wanted more than anyone, except Alice, to finally meet the family who caused them so much trouble. They were almost attacked from how stupid this Spencer family was and she wanted answers.

"Some things have...come up for them. I told them there would be no problem in canceling." Just as the words left his mouth the doorbell rang. Outside stood the Spencers much to Carlisle and Esme's surprise.

"Daniel, what a surprise you said there was-"

"The Spencers never miss an appointment. Plus I believe we owe your family an explanation." Esme's smiled at Carlisle then looked to Daniel and Carina.

"Well then by all means come in and sit. We all figured we could leave for dinner around seven if that's alright with you." Carina placed a hand on her husband's shoulder.

"Whatever would be fine with you is fine with us." Carlisle guided them all into the living room to make pleasantries with the rest of his family.

"Daniel, these are our children, Edward, Emmett, and Rosalie. Jasper and Alice are off somewhere. But they should be back shortly." Cora and Will gave one another glances that could tell a story.

"She's off trying to relieve the headache you've caused her. Carlisle left that little bit out." Said Rosalie, arms crossed. Emmett tried to calm her down, placing his hand on her hip but it didn't seem to do much good.

"You think I like wearing these things inside? You think it's a style choice? She's been as much of an effect on me as I have been on her." Will was getting angry. He wasn't going to stand for someone blaming him for others misfortunes when it was a two way street. Cora and Emmett, without meaning too, looked at one another with the same thought in mind. Cora pushed herself between the both of them who were about nose to nose.

"Alright let's. Let's take it down a notch. Okay?"

"Let's bring it down to a five." Emmett wrapped his arms around Rose and lifted her up from the ground back.

"Hell, let's take it to a one." Emmett laughed at Cora's suggestion while she shoved Will back. Will finally looked away from Rosalie to the small woman in front of him. He was about to speak when she placed a finger on his mouth.

"Just don't. Alright? Leave it be." She pat his chest, turning back around.

"So, get that bio homework out of the way?" Sebastian said trying to diffuse the room's tension. It seemed to work because as soon as Edward started laughing, the others did as well. Inept idiot, but learned how to read a room. Soon the room was filled with vampires making the best of their situation. Kiera and Carina discussed the artwork around the house with Esme who was more Than willing to give them the tour. Sebastian and Edward found they were both originally from Chicago. Will and Emmett discussed the NFL and their favorite players over the years while Rosalie and Cora seemed to be getting along just fine.

"So you were a nurse during the war?" Rosalie was fascinated by how many historical events Cora had managed to place herself in.

"I was. I loved the thirties. I thrived in the thirties. New York was really coming into its own." Rosalie's face lit up in delight.

"Oh I miss the thirties. Well...parts anyway." She laughed. Cora had found Rose was the one behind all of the men slaughters in her youth and it was actually really nice to put a face to a name. With all the commotion it was a wonder anyone heard Jasper and Alice jumped down to the balcony off the kitchen.

"We're back!" Alice was very chipper. Cora made note of that for the future.

"Great, I'm ready to eat." Emmet classed his hands together, getting up from his seated position.

"I heard that." Will high fived the large Cullen whom he had become close with the past half hour.

"Jasper, Alice, you know the Spencers I believe." Carlisle gave a small smile and gestured to the kids.

"I don't believe we've met actually. I'm Alice."

"I'm sorry to say we've both been giving one another trouble as of lately." Will smirked. Alice looked to the man who spoke and her mouth fell open. _This_ was the reason she couldn't see anything? And why was the trouble for him if she couldn't see the future? It was her who had the incessant headaches.

"Cora." Cora looked to Jasper in surprise.

"I'm surprised you even remembered my name." Jasper smirked at her banter with him. He was just trying to be polite.

"Let's head out then." Daniel clapped his hands together and Sebastian was the first out of the house.

"Last one to eat has to do laundry tonight." Cora, Kiera and will rolled their eyes at the vampire. Being the mischievous woman she was, Cora flashed her eyes as she stared at her brother. His feet lifted off the branch he was perched on and a yell was heard from inside the house.

"Kitten, put him down." Daniel scolded. Cora flung her eyes to the left, flinging Bastian the length of a football field into a nearby creek.

"OH come on Core!" Her eyes flashed back to their original golden hue and she ran off herself. Emmett whistled lowly at the scene the Cullens had just witnessed.

"Shit that's cool." Kiera laughed and turned as she walked to the door.

"If you think that's cool wait till you see what the rest of us can do." Her eyes turned a piercing green and she too ran off to catch up with her sister. Giving one another smiles Rose and Emmett followed. Will, still looking at Alice stuttered through his words. Jasper tightened a grip on Alice much to no avail.

"I uh. I better go make sure they don't kill each other. Bas gets a little ahead of himself and as you saw, Cora isn't too forgiving." Hands in his pockets, he sauntered out of the house and down to the grass. Esme gave Alice's hand a motherly squeeze and went off with her out the door. Carlisle waited for everyone to be out before motioning to Jasper. He had a sour look on his face and this time it wasn't because of the lust for human blood.

"Come on Jas." Carlisle's voice was so calm all the time. Jasper wanted to know how he did it even when he was angry or upset. He tried so hard to get a grip on what Alice was feeling but she had put a blockade up. His mind drifted to Cora. She was happy and relieved. Like she hadn't been thinking straight for the past couple days. A small smile fell upon his lips thinking about her finally having a fun moment of relief to herself. He was so lost in his thoughts he ran right into someone already hunting in a tree.

"Watch where you're going cowboy." Cora laughed, stabbing herself with the trunk and taking in a deep breath to find the nearest deer. Jasper found himself steady on her hips and that same feeling pulsed through his fingers. Cora felt a tingling sensation on her hips and saw Jasper had not yet removed his hands. He snatched his hands away and leaned one forearm on the trunk behind her own.

"My apologies ma'am." His voice was deep and more of a whisper than it usually was. Cora detected a twang from the south yet couldn't quite place it. Jasper inhaled deeply to set his mind straight just as a breeze blew by. Cora's locks shifted in the wind and Jasper's nose filled with her scent. Cora smelled of home. There was no other way to explain it. She smelled like hot spice and fall. The smell was intoxicating and Jasper wavered on the branch. The only other time he remotely felt this way is when he smelled Alice for the first time and Maria. But this time was different. Cora smelled like his home. Suddenly home wasn't a location anymore. It was her.

"I think I see a few." Cora said just above a whisper. When she didn't receive a reply she turned to see a wavering Jasper.

"Woah, hey you alright there cowboy?" Her eyes became wide and she reached out to grasp his biceps. Jasper held onto her arms like he would fall off the Earth.

"Jasper, you alright?" Jasper shook his head clear and nodded, taking a deep, unneeded breath.

"Alright...well come here." She pulled him forward and lined up her sights with the deer who hadn't wandered. Jasper placed a hand on her hip and Cora glanced down to make sure she wasn't dreaming. Didn't he have a mate? She pointed down and she felt hot breath near her ear. Their heads were almost touching and she turned ever so slightly to look him in the eyes for what would be the first time. Their eyes locked and a warm sensation pulsed through his hand and seemed to radiate all up her body. She could actually smell his scent now that her mind wasn't blurred with the problems of the week. He smelled of teakwood and campfire. Her mind flashed back to when she was human, camping with her family before the war. She was brought back by Jasper trying to clear the lump that had formed in his throat.

"We should just-"

"Yeah." She coughed, clearing her own throat and jumped down to the deer below, piercing it. By the time they had finished and gotten back, they were the last ones to the Cullen house. Sebastians triumph did not go unheard unfortunately.

"Guess who has to do laundry." Cora's eyes flashed once more but Bas put his hands up in defense.

"I'll just do it no worries." Kiera rolled her eyes and pulled him back down to the couch with her. Jasper looked to Alice who was deep on a conversation with Will. He turned to Cora who seemed to glow.

"Want the tour?" Cora looked up and blew air out of her nose.

"So all of a sudden we break deer together and we're buddy buddy?" Jasper smirked at her

"Come on you stubborn thing." he shoved his hands in his pockets, going out into the foyer.

"Oh so you aren't going to answer me is that it? Hey, I got questions for you." She smiled, trying to hide it as she followed him out of the living room. Now that he was actually talking to her Cora felt better than she had in days. After the whole Paul fiasco, she was nothing but miserable. She felt she needed to go over to the res everyday but she just couldn't. Jasper somehow made all that disappear.


	6. Chapter 6- That Damn Dog

Alice sat cross-legged on the couch adjacent from Will as they discussed their visions.

"Well I think I've had them my entire life. But I'm not entirely sure. I just know I haven't been able to see anything for months and I keep getting These -"

"awful headaches!" The finished together. Alice laughed, touching Wills hand. Alice and Will stopped talking, their eyes getting dark. Finally the headaches had washed away and a vision replaced them.

 _Cora stood between two men, her arms up pressing on both of their chests._

" _Cora let go. Let fate decide." One man was revealed to be Jasper. The other man laughed on the other side of Cora._

" _Let me rip him to pieces. That'll show you what about fate country boy." Paul began to shake and Cora was at a crossroads. Her head turned back and forth between the two men as her heart pulled her both ways_

Alice and Will let go of one another and the vision ceased. With each other around the headaches seemed to dissipate as well.

"Did you?"

"I did." Will answered her. His eyes wide at what they had just seen. Neither knew what it meant but they both knew one thing. No one could know until they figured it out for themselves. No one noticed that the two were pulled from reality for a split second. Alice grabbed Will's hand once more and tugged him to another section of the house, all while William looked over his shoulder to see if anyone had seen.

* * *

"This glass house gives me anxiety." Cora laughed looking out the windows of the household into the deep green.

"I know." Jasper chuckled, slowly walking up the stairs to the upper level of the house. Cora, distracted by movement in the wood stuttered out her next question.

"Uh. Wait what do you mean you know." Jasper leaned up against the Bannister and crossed his arms.

"Pathokinesis." Cora bumped him lightly with her hip as she walked past him on the steps to lean on the wall opposite the bannister.

"In English." She teased.

"I can feel and manipulate emotions. So I know the wide openness of the house makes you feel uncomfortable and anxious." If Cora could blush she would have been eight different shades. Had he been able to do that the entire time. Suddenly she felt at ease and relaxed. The open spaces didn't make her feel exposed.

"Hey, no fair with the mind control thing." She laughed as they rounded the other set of stairs. Jasper's eyes wandered up her legs are the both climb the stairs. Her jeans fit in all the right places and Jasper was grateful for it. He almost ran right into her again when she stopped on the stairs, pointing at the hats that adorned the wall.

"Graduation caps?"

"Inside joke between all of us." Cora laughed at the creativity as she made her way up to the top of the landing. Jasper's hand met her lower back briefly to guide her to the left and Cora felt that warmth once more radiate through her body.

"Thats Rose and Emmett room back there, and that's Edward and Alice, and this is me." he said turning around on his pivot foot. Cora looked behind him to the closed door and pointed.

"What you aren't going to show me? Some bogus tour this is." Jasper guided her out to the balcony near the steps, and pushing lightly on the small of her back to the edge. Cora looked around at the yard. It was nearing twilight and the sounds of the outdoors flooded her ears. She leaned down on the Bannister with her forearms, taking in the sight.

"Okay I guess I get how this is calming." Jasper enjoyed when she made jokes. It made everything seem so easy and relaxed. He didn't feel on edge anymore. The last bit of sunshine caught on her face and it sparkled briefly before disappearing over the house. She was beautiful. Jasper pried the thoughts from his head. Alice was his mate. Wasn't she..?

* * *

"Okay we have to figure out what that means. There has to be some logical explanation right?" Alice asked, perched on top of the work bench in the garage.

"Are all of these cars yours?" Will was enthralled with all the vehicles he couldn't possibly pay attention to anything Alice said right now. No matter how intoxicating her honey rose scent was.

"Focus Will!" She snapped her fingers in front of his golden eyes that snapped back to hers. Her words caught in her throat as the smell of Flannel and Sandlewood crossed her nose once more.

"Jasper and I have been together since the 1940s so why would he be fighting over Cora with Paul. And why Is Paul fighting at all?" Will sucked his teeth and rubbed the back of his neck. It took everything inside of Alice to not glance down at his shirt riding up his torso as he did.

"So to live here we had to make a treaty with the shifters right? Yeah. So we went and there was a little scuffle with Cora and Bas and one of the wolves. Long story short she threw one into a tree and hurt him pretty bad."

"That explains why Sam came by earlier." Will took a step to Alice and leaned against the bench.

"Yeah sorry about that. Anyway, this was tearing Cora up inside so she went to apologize. Then everyone got quiet and no one told us what was going on. This wolf she threw into a tree, he imprinted on Core. She's been a mess about it for days. All she wants to do is to go down there but we can't. We just signed that treaty." Alice had never heard of that people. Carlisle had to have heard of something like that.

"But isn't Cora your-"

"Nope. We tried. We tried for a decade or two but we just aren't the ones. And we came to terms with that." Alice looked up at Will who had a small sad smile on his face.

"Isn't Jasper your..." Alice turned and stared off to the other side of the garage in contemplation.

"I thought he was."

* * *

Cora placed her jacket on the hook as her family strolled in behind her.

"Well I think that went well." Will rushed upstairs to his room without a word which was rather odd for him. No goodnight, no nothing. Cora and Kiera shrugged at one another. His headaches must have been affecting him enough to lay down again.

"Yeah they aren't as shitty as I thought." Sebastian laughed at his own joke, hopping up on the kitchen island. Cora rolled her eyes, smiling at her younger brother and started walking up the stairs to her own room.

"We were going to stay up and talk for a bit if you want to kitten." Cora grabbed the handrail, turning around.

"No, I uh...I have a book I'd really like to start upstairs so I think I'm just going to do that and meditate a little. But you guys have fun." A chorus of good nights followed her up the stairs to her room where she finally had solitude. Her hand fingered the bookcase, trying to find something that would leak her interest but she was suddenly distracted by the smell of wet dog. Cora heard a few taps on her glass door to the outside and immediately knew what was going on. With vampire speed she threw open the door and bent over the balcony, looking down.

"What are you doing here?!" She whispered rather loudly. Paul looked like he was doing better. His wrap had come off and the painful look was replaced by a cocky smirk.

"I needed to talk to you. Can I come up?" Cora put a hand to her head, flabbergasted at the entire situation.

"No!"

"Yes!"

"No!"

"Yes!"

"Paul I said no!" Cora tried to get her words together but found her train of thought always disappearing when she looked down at Paul.

"Please?"

"No!"

"Please?" Jesus Christ this man was persistent.

"No!" Paul not-so-casually stretched his arms behind his head, his upper arms exposed and obviously flexed.

"Please?" Cora gripped the balcony railing and frowned to herself.

"Fine!" The cocky smirk was back and the man attached to it scaled the building. Cora paced back and forth. She had never had a boy try to sneak into her room. It was unheard of and she was sure her family heard him stumble into her room let alone the smell. Cora put out her arms to help him to his feet but he didn't take the help.

"You know you're gonna have to fix that for me?" He said pointing to the essentially unclimbable balcony.

"Uh. No. What are you doing here isn't there some sort of law that forbids you from coming up this way?" Paul laughed and sat himself down on the edge of her bed, making himself at home.

"Nope. Sorry to break it to you sleepless beauty, but that only applies to you vamps." Cora made a sour face and crossed her arms.

"Well that's fucked. Could you not sit right on my sheets, I'd rather it not smell like dog in here the rest of the week." Paul scoffed at Cora, getting up from her never used bed.

"Like this thing gets used anyway." Paul seemed to always have a cocky grin plastered on his face at all times. Cora was starting to think it was just his face. She sauntered up to the tall wolf and get voice came out just at above a whisper.

"Wouldn't you like to know." Her breath was hot much too Paul's surprise. He watched her walk back out onto the balcony and chills tingled up and down his spine. Gravity pulled him to her. He was almost disgusted with himself but his heart wouldn't let him be.

" So what are you doing here? It's rude showing up unannounced to someone's home. I'm not even going to mention the scaling of the building." She laughed, leaning back on the railing. Paul came up and put both hands on either side of her. Cora's eyes widened at his boldness.

"Friday was a weird day."

"A very weird day."

"Yes Cora, a very weird day. I was very angry and that wasn't fair to you." his brown eyes would have bore a hole in her soul if she had one. Cora stuttered and she looked down at the warmth now engulfing her hand. Paul had latched onto it with his own and Cora didn't want to let go.

"It doesn't matter though. What's fair to me that is." She shook his hand out if her own and paced back and forth for a brief moment before settling on the love seat.

"I mean, we're natural enemies remember?" Paul leaned up against the wall, his shoulder propping him up.

"I wish. I want nothing more than to hate you Cora. I want to be disgusted by your smell. I want to be repelled by your cold skin. I want to look into your eyes and not want to protect you from everything and anything."

"Uhm...thanks I guess for that first part. It was endearing?" Her sarcasm spilling from her mouth. His brown pools looked her up and down. Head to toe. Cora wanted to take him all in. He was cocky sure. He was arrogant, sure. But Paul made Cora feel safe and desired for some unfathomable reason. Being this close to him for so long after not being able to see him was making her crazy. She felt her words get caught in her throat, not knowing how to tear them out.

"You make me feel warmer than I have in a long time." It was almost above a whisper. It was audible to Paul though. He made room for himself on the couch and planted himself right next to her, never looking away from her sparkling eyes. When he grabbed her hand she didn't flinch the way she did with Jared. It was like they were two magnets together, pushing and pulling everything around them.

"Cora, you know why that is?" His voice was so low she almost didn't recognize it. She kept glancing from his chocolate eyes to his chest, feeling awkward and unsure.

"I don't know what an imprint is." She let the cat out of the bag on that one. Should she even know what an imprint is? She didn't know the rules, so there went nothing. Paul let out a small chuckle an looked down briefly at their intertwined hands.

"That's fine. It's kind of the reason I scaled your house. I'm sure I'm the last person you would even want to talk to right now. Especially after the way I acted."

"The way _you_ acted? I threw you into a damn tree. How do you think I feel?" Cora made him smile, something that Paul didn't do enough of these days.

"That's true. You got me there." They were both silent for a minute, the air was filling with an awkward aura and neither knew who would be the first to diffuse it.

 **SO who's gonna be the first to win the affections of our dear Cora? Paul or Jasper? Ill be taking votes for the next couple chapters! So tell me why you think it should be Jasper or Paul first! xoxo OCS**


	7. Chapter 7-A Major

"I guess I should probably explain why I wanted to be here at two in the morning." Paul shot her a smile, rubbing the back of his neck, trying to find the words. Cora laughed, leaning back into a relaxing position.

"It would be polite considering." Paul raised his eyebrows at his imprint, surprised at her boldness. He rubbed his chin with one hand, tongue in cheek, trying to find a beginning or rather a place to start.

"In our pack, our culture I guess, once a wolf phases for the first time they have all of these emotions in them. It's a big change for someone to go through, as you can imagine. The change happens when there's a big threat around or if the body senses danger to the tribe. So when your family moved around the area, it caused a few guys to change, or at least feel the shift beginning." Cora looked down, embarrassed for causing so much trouble.

"God, that's so embarrassing." Cora held her face with her hands, trying to shield her face. A light bulb dinged in her head and she lifted her face to Paul's immediately.

"Not that there are guys shifting but that we caused the problem. See I have this condition where sometimes I say whatever is on my mind and it comes out sounding like garbage." Paul laughed softly, shaking his head at her, and squeezing her hand before continuing.

" _Anyways_ ," Paul was at a loss on how to explain the next bit. "When the shift happens, there's a change in metabolism, body heat, speed, senses, stuff like that." Cora nodded, telling him to continue.

"It's said, well really assumed because no one really knows for sure, that when the shift occurs, there's a connection on this world that could happen to any wolf, at any time. It used to be said it was for providing that wolf with the best possible match for them for vitality and fertility and what not."

His gaze left hers for the first time since he had landed on her balcony. He seemed so confident all the time. Cora wondered what made this so difficult for him. "An imprint for us is like what a mate is to you. It's a force that pulls you to her. Nothing around you matters anymore because all you see is her. She's every morning, she's every afternoon, she's every night. It's not gravity holding you to the Earth anymore, it's her."

In that moment, everything clicked for Cora. It explained why she wanted to be around a man she barely knew let alone was natural enemies with.

"But you said that it was matched for vitality and fertility. I'm...I cant.." Cora had always been insecure about that part of her. Rosalie and her had chatted briefly about it hours earlier. Cora wanted nothing more in her human life to have a family, something she would never be able to do now in her state of living...or lack thereof. Paul's chest filled with empathy for his imprint, seeing how upset she was pulled at his heartstrings.

"I said, it was just a theory. No one really knows why. So you can imagine my surprise when I looked into those disgusting eyes and couldn't see the world around me." He teased, trying to lighten the mood. Cora rolled her eyes and pushed Paul's inner shoulder.

"You're gross too, ya know?" Paul scooted himself closer to her, their legs touching.

"That's just it Cora. I wanted to be disgusted, I tried for days to get you out of my head and I just couldn't." Cora could feel his heat radiating off of him, something she hadn't felt in a long time.

"What exactly does being an imprint entail?" She was genuinely curious and genuinely had enough of him talking about how much he wanted to be grossed out by her. It was getting a little old.

"Well.. It could mean a lot of things. It could be a best friend, a big brother, a lover.." He trailed off and he finally got quiet. Cora tried to allow all this new information to sink in. It was a lot to take in especially in one night.

"I think this is the most quiet I've ever heard you before." It was her turn to tease him now. Paul's smirk was quickly put back on his face, he obviously had something smart to say.

"There's only two ways to get me to shut up." Cora threw her head back laughing.

"Oh yeah? What's that Fido?" Paul ignored the dog comment and got up to stand in front of the railing. Cora blurred herself in front of him, this time she was the one with both hands on either side of him.

"Food, and pretty women," The cocky grin he always had made Cora feel like she was flying.

"Alright, you have to get out of here. I'm not allowed to have boys in my room unsupervised." She rolled her eyes, joking.

"You mean to tell me you're going to make me climb all the way back down there?"

"Unless you want me to throw you again?" She crossed her arms, countering his suggestion. Paul put his hands up in surrender.

"Alright, you win. Damn." Cora placed a small kiss on his cheek, the heat radiating through her body as her lips retreated.

"Get used to that if you plan on sticking around with a gross vampire." Paul's hands had found the tops of her hips, and she was glad they did. Her hands were settled lightly on his stomach, as she craned herself looking up at him.

"It wasn't in my plans." Cora scoffed and rolled her eyes, pushing herself away from him. Paul took the hint and hopped over the edge of the railing to climb down.

"Wait! What if I want to see you again?" She yelled down to the man who began to jog away but stopped.

"Oh so you want to see me again?" Paul waggled his eyebrows up at her, making her stifle a laugh.

"I can't go on the reservation."

"Can't ban imprints. I'll see you soon." And with a wink, he was off, leaving Cora to her thoughts. Thoughts of a warm, chiseled, brown-eyed man who seemed to have her cold heart in the palm of his hands.

* * *

"No more headaches chief?" Cora raised an eyebrow at Will who had offered to drive the two of them into school that morning in the SUV. Bas and Kiera were running late and followed blocks behind. Will smiled and glanced at Cora who was fixing her mascara.

"Yeah. I mean they just left. I guess after having a vision all my tension went away." Cora's hand latched onto Will's upper thigh, her mouth agape and her eyes wide.

"You had a vision and you didn't tell me?!" Her arm went out to smack the top of his arm but Will, being the fastest in the family, caught her hand with ease.

"Yes, and yes. You don't have to know everything." Will laughed, parking the car and getting out just as an old beat up orange truck pulled into the parking lot. Cora noted she had never seen it before but it must have been a new student. After they got out and closed the doors, Kiera and Sebastian pulled in next to them. Cora pushed on Will's shoulder again.

"What did you see?" Will shoved his hands into his pockets and nodded in the direction of the Cullens who had just peeled in. Sebastian threw an arm around Kiera and followed his older brother and sister over to the conglomerate of Cullens.

"I'm not telling you Core." Will laughed, putting his own arm around Cora who's mood was turning sourer by the minute. Will, seeing how irritated she was getting, placed a small kiss on the top of her head. Emmett was the first to jump out of the Jeep and greet the Spencer family.

"Long time no see," Emmett smirked, giving Will a high five, and nodding in the direction of Sebastian who was already conversing with Edward but made time to nod back in his direction.

"Your sweaters are always so cute," Rose said, pulling at the shoulder of the white sweater Cora was wearing. She had an affinity for off the shoulder sweaters and ripped jeans.

"Oh shut up, I need to raid your closet for all these cute jackets." Rose smiled at Cora who instantly felt better for some reason. It was like her sour mood from Will was washed away. She shook her head as if to get rid of the thoughts. "Jasper, not fair!" She said, pushing his arm. A sly smirk was plastered upon his lips as he jumped down from the driver's seat of the Jeep.

"My apologies ma'am." He looked down at her and if she had any breath left in her, Jasper would take it all away every time he looked at her. Alice and Will were whispering about something but not quite low enough that Cora didn't catch Will's laughter ringing out.

"Oh so you'll tell her?" Her arms crossed, tongue stuck in her cheek. The bell rang just in time and Will ran off in front of everyone else, Alice in tow. Sebastian shook his head following the group with Kiera and Emmett shrugged, bumping Cora with his hip before taking Rosalie's hand.

"Saved by the bell." He grinned, happy with his own joke.

"He's a pain in the butt sometimes." She said as her and Jasper made their stroll to AP History. Jasper chuckled, holding the door open to the class for her.

"Yeah but I'm sure you aren't any better." She turned on her heels, and put a finger to his hard chest.

"Watch it, cowboy." She threatened. Jasper put his hands up in surrender and followed her to their seats in the back corner. Cora pulled out the book for class, just so it would look like she didn't know what was going on and leaned back in her chair.

"Don't you ever get bored sitting here listening to things you already lived through?" Jasper pulled out his own book for personal reading and flipped through the pages, not looking up at Cora as he answered.

"More than you will ever know. AP History at least adds some sort of challenge to what I've lived through. You know?" Cora crossed her arms and contemplated what he said. Jas was right, AP did pose a challenge whenever they went through different schools. It was always different information so she did end up learning something every year.

"When were you turned?" she whispered so no one would hear over the lecture. Jasper smiled slightly and closed his book.

"I was the youngest Major in the Confederate army in Texas." Cora's mouth dropped open and reached out, snatching his hand in excitement. A sense of safety and content flowed over her as she did.

"I was a cadet nurse in World War two!" Cora lightly squeezed his hand in excitement and she felt a little pressure back.

"Tell me more about that." Jasper's face had a big smile plastered on his face and his eyes sparkled at Cora's excitement. Before he could answer, the bell rang for a change of class and he got up to let Cora out.

"It's a long story, I'll tell you later." He laughed out, putting a lazy arm around her shoulders as they walked out of the classroom. Jasper caught her eye roll at his response and leaned down to her ear.

"Watch that eye roll, little girl." He teased. Cora shuddered but still smacked his chest in protest as she walked to her next class.

 **So far its PAUL in the lead! Keep sending in your votes!**


	8. Chapter 8- The Bella Swan Effect

Bella couldn't believe how intense everyone was at this school. The guys didn't seem to leave her alone and she wasn't too sure on how to feel about it. Mike had been following her around all day like a damn puppy dog and she didn't know why. Maybe hitting a ball to the back of someone's head was considered endearing in Washington? She hadn't been very hungry all day so she only grabbed a sandwich and a yogurt despite Mike's protests.

"Hey, there's Jess and Eric," Mike said, pointing out the table of people. Bella smiled slightly as he guided her to the table, pulling her chair out for her.

"It's my pleasure." Mike winked, taking a place next to Bella.

"Hey, Mikey, you met my home girl Bella!" Eric smiled, causing Mike to raise his eyebrows.

"Oh, your homegirl huh? Is that ri-" Mike was mid-sentence when Tyler swooped in on the conversation, stealing a peck on Bella's cheek.

"My girl." Tyler stole the chair out from under Mike and ran away as Mike chased him through the cafeteria. Bella was flustered and a little uncomfortable at the whole situation and it was invisible to the men around her but the women definitely took note.

"Oh my God, It's like first grade all over again, you're the shiny new toy." Jessica laughed out. Bella noticed everything Jessica said sounded forced or annoyed. Not that this meant she wouldn't be friends with her because I mean come on, it's a new school and she didn't know anyone, it wasn't like she had the option to be picky.

"Smile!" a girl said with a singsong voice and a camera, She shot a close up of Bella and she flinched. Why were these people in her face every second of every day?

"Sorry, I needed a candid for the feature." She said sitting down, biting her lip and scrolling through the pictures on her camera.

"Features dead Angela, don't bring it up again." Eric sounded mad as he reprimanded Angela for taking Bella's picture. He got up to see where Mike had ended up and whether or not Tyler had gotten the shit kicked out of him.

"Don't worry baby, I got your back." He said grabbing Bella's shoulders and running off. Angela rolled her eyes and Jessica scoffed. Whether it was at the attention Bella was getting or how stupid the boys were acting, she didn't know and she really didn't care to know.

"Guess we'll just have to do another editorial on teen drinking." Bella held the celery stick she was about to eat to her lips, trying to come up with a solution to Angela's problem.

"Or you could do eating disorders? Uhm..Speedo padding on the swim team." She joked and Angela's face lit up.

"That's actually really good." Jessica and Angela started talking about a boy on the swim team who had to be padding but movement outside caught Bella's eye. A group of nine people were on their way in and Bella had never seen people so radiant like them before. Ignoring whatever conversation the girls were having in front of her, Bells asked who they were. Jessica leaned in making the girls also lean in very close.

"The Cullens and The Spencers. Doctor and Mrs Cullen's foster kids and this new family who moved her like a month or two ago. Their dad is like this big stock market guy like in Mad Money and his wife just adopted all these kids. The Cullens moved down here from Alaska like a year ago and I think the Spencers are from like Maryland or something."

"Actually, they're from Hilton. The kinda keep to themselves. That is until the Spencers showed up." Jessica batted a hand in Angela's direction.

"Yeah, whatever. Anyway, that's because they're all together. Like as in together together. That blonde girl, Rosalie and the big dark-haired guy Emmett." Bella looked on, and tried not to be caught staring. Rosalie was beautiful and had this glint in her eye and a telling smirk that made everyone around her know that she knew she was beautiful. Emmett looked like he could get into trouble at any moment and that he would love every second of it.

"They're like a thing and I'm not even sure that's legal." Bella looked at Angela who scoffed out loud at Jess.

"Jess, they're not actually related." Angela crossed her arms and shot a matter-of-fact look at Jessica.

"But they live together, it's weird! Anyway, that little dark haired girl, she's really weird. She's with that blonde guy Jasper, he always looks like he's in pain." Angela cut in once more, causing Bella to tear her eyes away from the pixie and the lean stoic man she walked in with.

"I heard they aren't together anymore. I heard that Alice has been hanging out with Will Spencer." Angela stuck her tongue in her cheek and nodded at an agape mouth Jess.

"Who's Will Spencer?" Bella asked, looking from Jess to Angela.

"He's the gorgeous blonde with that small brunette. That's Cora. They're like kind of a thing but no one really knows for sure." Bella looked to the pair who were in tow with Alice and Jasper. Will had an arm around Cora and a hand shoved into his pocket. Cora threw her head back in laughter at something Jasper must have said and she reached out, touching his chest as they walked to the corner table, joining Rosalie and Emmett.

"Dr Cullen is like this foster dad slash matchmaker and obviously Mr. Spencer is the same way." Jess said, making glances at the table and at Bella who just stared on with no remorse.

"Maybe he'll adopt me." Angela shrugged, making Bella laugh.

"Those two, that blonde guy with the tattoos, thats Sebastian. He's super hot, obviously and so nice." Jess said looking to Angela.

"He's so nice."

"He's with that tall brunette girl, Kiera. She's like Israeli or something." Bella nodded as her eyes followed the last person to walk in and it was like her heart had stopped. He wasn't as striking as the others but Bella's heart skipped a beat when she saw him. He had copper hair and he seemed so mysterious.

"Who's he?" Bella asked, still looking at him.

"That's Edward Cullen," almost immediately his eyes darted that way as if he had heard Jessica say his name, then his eyes found their way to Bella whose breath caught in her chest.

"He's totally gorgeous, obviously. But apparently, no one here is good enough for him. Like I care." Jessica's laugh was uncomfortable and Bella deduced she did in fact care. She turned around in her chair to look at the table again. Rosalie and Emmett were mid conversation with Kiera and Sebastian. Will and Alice discussed something where Alice used her hands to speak a lot. Cora pushed a carrot to Jasper's face, causing him to push it away and do the same to her. Edward, however, was staring at Bella. She had to do a double take just to make sure she wasn't crazy but there he was...just staring.

"Seriously, don't waste your time." Jess said picking at her salad. Bella laughed uncomfortably.

"I wasn't planning on it."

* * *

Bastian stole one last kiss from Kiera before Cora dragged him off with her and Edward to AP Bio.

"Im a lover Core, what can I say?" Sebastian smirked, walking into Mr. Molina's class.

"Mr. Spencer, I trust you've actually gotten your homework done this time." Cora latched onto her brother's arm and answered for him.

"Absolutely Mr. Molina, I've been on his case all day." Edward laughed, taking his normal seat near the window and in front of the Spencer siblings. Mike Newton strolled in with the new student Cora had noted earlier that morning and she couldn't help but make a sour face. Mike Newton was everything annoying and everything after annoying. When they first got to Forks he wouldn't leave her alone, causing her to full on grab Will, push him up against their car and make out with him right there in front of Mike. He never bothered Cora again and she smiled to herself and the memory.

"Maybe you and Will are mates." Sebastian wiggled his eyebrows at her and she smacked his upper arm.

"Stay outta my head!"

"Keep your thoughts private then you dirty bird." Edward said laughing. Cora threw a wadded up piece of paper at the back of his head, causing him to turn around.

"That goes double for you, you coppertone sunscreen." Edward's head whipped back around as the new girls stepped in front of the fan that sat near the door. His face contorted and Cora nor Sebastian had ever seen anything like it. Sure she smelled good, a majority of the humans in the school did, but Edward was full blown freaking out. Cora kicked Sebastian who was stifling his laughter but seemed to be choking in his efforts.

"Knock it off!"

"I'm trying!" Bastian managed to get out, holding onto his chest, his fist lightly banging on the table. Edward looked miserable as she sat down next to him and Mr. Molina handed out the specimen they were to examine and Edward held onto his nose the entire class. The bell rang and before he could even get up to stop him, Bastian watched Edward move out of the classroom as fast as humanly possible. Cora looked to Bas and shrugged, walking along in front of him to go to the rest of her classes.

At the end of the day, Cora went to throw her belongings into her locker so she wouldn't have to carry anything home. When she closed the locker she almost jumped out of her skin seeing Rose standing there.

"Holy shit Rose, Don't do that to me." She laughed, slamming the locker and locking arms with Rosalie.

"Want to come over for a girls night? You, me, Alice, Kiera watching bad movies all night." Cora sucked her teeth as they hit the outside steps down to the parking lot.

"I don't know," She dragged out. Rose furrowed her brow.

"I have a lot of homework over World War two." Rose bumped Cora with her hip in response to her joke.

"Yeah, we'll be over tonight, probably after dinner." Kiera's ears tuned into the conversation as Rose and Cora walked to the row of cars littered with Cullens and Spencers.

"Yay! Girls night!" Alice clapped her hands together in excitement and turned back to Kiera.

"What? no invite?" Will asked, fake hurt and leaning up against his truck.

"What part of girls night was lost to you? The girl part or the night part?" Alice teased, biting her lip, making Will groan in a fake tone.

"You wound me woman." Sebastian walked up with Jasper, the two being the last of the clan to show up.

"Did ya'll hear how Edward almost got sick in Bio?" Sebastian was almost near tears thinking about the ordeal.

"Oh yeah, Seb told me he almost lost his shit." Emmett laughed, earning a glare from Rosalie who was not amused.

"Let's go before he does again." Cora noted Bella coming down the stairs and all the Spencers and Cullens got into their vehicles to head home.

* * *

"Honey, I'm home!" Kiera yelled out in a singsong voice when Cora and her entered the Cullen residence. Rose showed up right away to lead them into the den for games and movies. Cora was holding up the back when she was pulled up the stairs in the opposite direction of the den.

"You know, if you wanted to hang out with me you could have just asked before your sister did." she laughed after being dragged into the too familiar room, littered with books.

"Well I thought you might want to learn a little about my history." Jasper smiled, closing the door and gesturing to the stack of books on his small couch angled toward the window. Cora pointed to the stacks all over and looked up at him with wide eyes.

"All of these?" Jasper nodded and placed a hand on the small of her back, leading her to the couch where she ignored the seating and simply sat on the rug, pulling a book down to her lap and leaning against the couch. Jasper sat beside her as she opened the worn books in amazement. Over the centuries, Jasper had collected every record of his family and himself he had ever come across. Cora wished she was as meticulous as Jasper was. She had a few pictures from a few decades here and there but nothing to this caliber. Her delicate fingers ran along the page, lightly brushing over the photographs of a young Jasper Whitlock. She turned to face him and hadn't realized how close he had been leaning to see for himself. Their noses were almost touching.

"I," She looked down to his mouth but then directly back up to his eyes.

"I, had no idea you were so sentimental." Jasper smiled and Cora felt a twinge in her stomach as he looked down at her but then back to the book. His arm rested on the seat of the couch, lightly touching her shoulder. With his other hand he flipped the pages to most recent years. More recent years being that where he looked his own age. Cora's eyes drifted to his arms. She couldn't recall a time where he had ever worn short sleeves at school. She stared at the half moon scars that scattered his arms.

"Tell me about them." She almost whispered, grabbing his wrist lightly and tracing the small marks. Jasper's other arm came across her, pulling her in closer to him so she was almost in his lap so she could see both arms.

"Battle scars. All the training the Confederate army gave me was no match for any newborn army. Still, I never lost a fight." She was mid trace and looked behind her to Jaspers face.

"You got these during the Civil War?" She questioned. Jasper shifted his position, his arm coming to rest around her and the other sat in her own hands, in her lap.

"I was the youngest Major in the Texas calvary. All without seeing any real battle." He said. His voice was so close that Cora could only imagine that he was centimeters away from putting his lips to her head.

"Until..?" His eyes darkened as if he had seen a ghost as he went back to a dark part of his past.

"Until I met a certain Immortal. Maria. I was riding back to Galveston, after evacuating a column of women and children and I saw her. I immediately offered her my aid. She said I would be of great use to her and then she changed me." Cora turned in his arms and saw the darkness that pooled his eyes.

"She was creating an Army? Why?" His grip on her never tightened and it never got lighter, it simply stayed the same amount of pressure throughout his recall of events.

"They were very common in the South. The battle for territory was brutal. Maria won them all. She was smart, careful. And she had me. I was the second in command. My abilities to control emotions served her well. I trained her newborns. An endless occupation since she never let them live beyond their first year. It was my job to dispose of them. I could feel everything they felt." At the sound of that Cora tightened her grip on Jasper as he recalled his memories. Her light squeeze of encouragement made him smile slightly before continuing.

"I thought I thought what Maria and I had was love. But I was her puppet. She pulled the strings. I didn't know there was another way... Until I found Alice. Now she'd seen me coming, of course." He smiled again, remembering the first time he had seen Alice. Cora let go of his arm and went to sit up. Jasper put on a face of confusion as she moved from the intimate position they were in.

"I should be getting back, Rose is probably furious." She went to stand up and was pulled back down to the rug by a light but firm tug. She was back in the position she so hastily left but this time her thighs straddled his own and her hands rested lightly upon his chest. She saw his face getting closer and closer and Cora about panicked.

"There you are!" almost so quick she got a head rush, Cora sped herself to the door where Rose was. She was the opposite of happy at the moment and judging by her face, she wasn't leaving until Cora left with her.

"Come on. Jazz, hang out with her on your own time, not mine." Rose snagged Cora's hand leading her back downstairs and leaving an almost content Jasper sitting on the floor of his bedroom.

 **Looks like we're all tied up with 5 votes for Paul and 5 for Jasper! Keep the votes coming whether in PM form or in Review form!**


	9. Chapter 9- He's Hot When He's Angry

"Dude come on, I don't want to crash their party. I just want to sit and watch the damn Panthers game alright?" Bastian said, throwing the football back and forth to Emmett in the den. Will was completely enamored with going to the Cullen house to see the girls. Bastian suggested a night in with the guys. Emmett was all on board, as was Edward, but as for Jasper and Will, they weren't too into it. Will crossed his arms and sank deeper into the couch.

"Well why does Jasper get to sit out?" Emmett rolled his eyes, not tearing them away from the football game.

"Because he lives there you nimrod. He had the option to stay home."

"Why can't I have the option to go?" Will countered and Emmett threw the ball his way. Will caught it without looking effortlessly.

"Because you weren't invited." Edward laughed, getting a ball to the side. Will immediately got up and blurred himself over to the door.

"Well I'm going to go crash a party." With echoes of protests behind him, Will was off down the road to the Cullen house.

When he reached the outside he immediately smelled Alice as he came into the clearing. The all glass house left little to the imagination. Will followed the smell to the backyard, right outside the den. He could make out Cora laughing while playing with Rosalie's hair who had a large smile on her face. It was nice to see her not so miserable all the time. Rose always seemed to have this horrible sour look on her face. Now with more girl friends to hang out with, she seemed happier. His eyes darted around the room until he saw Alice and his heart swelled. It was almost as if she knew he was there because her eyes tore away from the television screen and down to where he was. Alice looked around to see if either Kiera, Rose, or Cora noticed but none did.

"Come down!" Will mouthed. Alice's mouth formed into a small smirk.

"No!" she mouthed back, making Will shake his head.

"Please?" He smiled. That got her. Alice hadn't felt this way in a long time. She was giddy and butterflies resurfaced. She was excited to see Will and she couldn't place why. She got up from her crossed legged position and held up one finger to signal him. She walked around and out the back door, not disturbing the others, and quickly made it outside. Will was pacing around, kicking at the grass, waiting for her to show up. Alice got to the top of the balcony of the backyard and jumped down to Will's back lightly and effortlessly.

"Well hey there spider monkey." He laughed, turning his neck to see the small pixie. Alice ruffled his blond locks a bit and dropped down to the ground.

"Hey yourself," She said locking arms with him to walk around the wood.

"What brings you here to crash the party." His smell was almost intoxicating and Alice loved every minute of being near him. Jasper had been distant as of late and she didn't mind much considering Will got rid of her headaches and made her smile. Will shrugged and looked down at the spikey haired woman before him.

"Football wasn't calling me tonight. Did I surprise you?" He grinned, happy with himself. Alice gave his bicep a small squeeze.

"Yes! You know how hard it is for someone to do that now a days? I just see them coming. But not you. It's very odd." Will laughed, and rubbed the back of his neck.

"I gotta say it's the same way with you. I just can't see past anything. Unless we're..." Will looked down to Alice's hand, recalling the night they both saw the same vision. If Alice could blush, she would have. She hopped with her whole heart that her sister and the others wouldn't notice her disappearing act for the night.

* * *

The girls had gotten through several different movies before it even came close to sun rise. When that time came around for them to get ready for school, they all got ready relatively fast. Alice was still nowhere to be found. Rose had suggested she went off to find Jasper. That comment made Cora uncomfortable but it made sense. That was her mate. Cora looked at herself one more time in the mirror, judging whether or not she should throw her hair up in a top knot or not. While her hands were fiddling with the hair tie, a pair of hands came to rest upon her hips, as if they belonged there and a pair of lips pressed themselves to her ear.

"You look fine." She turned around to look the Major in his eyes and let out a sigh.

"I guess fine will have to do for today." She smiled, patting his chest lightly and quickly made her way out of his grasp and out into her car. She didn't even bother to wait for Kiera. She needed the time to think and sit with her thoughts for a little. She didn't know what to make of Jasper and she had no idea what to make of Paul. Oh shit Paul! How could she even forget about him? She was his imprint and she had no idea how to even go about that. She couldn't make him happy, she couldn't give him children. She was frozen in time and he would keep getting older and older...she thinks. Now that Cora was thinking logistics, she wasn't really sure what would happen if she chose to spend her time with Paul. Pulling into Forks High, her mind was extremely heavy, especially when she got out of the car. The only thing that was able to pull her out of her thoughts was the smell of wet dog she had almost become numb to. Her eyes darted all over the parking lot before landing on the wet haired, copper skinned man that stood near the steps to the school. Cora walked as fast as she could without drawing suspicion and put a hand on his back, causing him to turn around. She noted this was the first time she had ever seen Paul with clothes on. He looked...amazing. She was honestly in awe at the white v neck, jeans and boots. It was a look and Cora was very much into it.

"Hey," He smiled,placing both his hands right about her rear end, not even flinching at the cold. Cora's arms remained at her side no matter how loud her body was yelling at her to throw her arms around him.

"Hey," She drew out, taking glances at the people who were staring at them as they walked by. She looked for the clan of Cullen cars, nowhere to be seen and could finally breathe again.

"What are you doing here?" She asked and Paul's chocolate eyes lit up.

"Taking my girl out. We're playing hooky." Cora scoffed and looked up at the mischievous glint in his eyes.

"First, who said I was your girl? Sec-"

"Fate. Jesus. The universe. Karma." Cora shot him a look that shut his mouth but it was still in that permanent smirk it was always in.

"Second, I am not letting you take me out! I have class and that thing is a death trap." She said, making eyes at the motorcycle posted behind him. His grip loosened for a second as he sighed at her and dropped a little but he still held onto her.

"You don't need to go to high school for what? The fifteenth time _and_ you can't tell me you're afraid of a motorcycle sleepless beauty." Cora hated how he made her waffle between decisions.

"Oh for the love, lets go." Paul handed her a helmet, which she put on for appearances and threw her leg over the back end of the bike.

"Hold on tight, angel." Cora smiled and wrapped both arms around Paul's warm torso. The heat didn't bother her anymore. It was comforting in a way and she held on tighter as the engine started up and Paul rode off to take her on her first solo adventure.

* * *

The empty seat next to him in AP History made Jasper uneasy. He didn't know where Cora went off to after leaving his house in the morning but what he did know is that her car was in the parking lot so he expected her to be sitting right next to him like she did every day. If she wasn't in class or in school, where could she have run off to?

"Hey, Bas, have you seen Cora?" Sebastian turned around wide eyed at Jasper.

"No, I thought she left with you." Both men felt a deep worry in their gut and left to see who would know where Cora ran off to.

* * *

Cora took in the smells and sights on the winding road that swirled around the cliffs and went deep into the forest. Cora loved living in Washington. The greenery was beautiful and the rain was inviting. Cora loved a good rain storm. Paul peeled around a curve and came upon a small beach with several guys kicking a soccer ball around.

"What? You all played hooky today?" She said, unclipping the helmet and swinging her leg off the bike. Paul swung off himself and placed an arm around her, pulling her into him as they walked down to the beach.

"How old do you think we are?" He laughed placing a light kiss to the top of her head. Cora had never been around a pack of wolves by herself and she was nervous. But having Paul so close to her made her feel calm and warm inside like she had never felt since she was living.

"Oh I don't know. High school age?" Cora said, pulling off her wedges to step on the sand. Paul's cocky grin returned and he held out his hand for her to grab when she was done.

"I'm 20" Cora looked up and placed both heels in one hand before grabbing Paul's hand.

"You're way too old for me" She teased, making him laugh. He drew close to her ear and Cora shuddered at his hot breath that touched her ear.

"Don't start with me." Paul was the most cocky man that Cora had ever met and she was glad she had met him and damned if she said it, she was glad she threw him into a tree. Without her and her siblings running off to find out what their parents were doing, she never would have met Paul let alone known anything about imprinting.

"Look who decided to show up!" Jared yelled, kicking the ball as hard as he could at Sam. Sam Uley seemed very tense as soon as Cora and Paul had shown up. Sam stopped the ball with his foot and walked over to Emily who sat on a blanket, wrapped up in a big sweatshirt.

"Cora, you remember Jared and Sam." Sam pulled Emily closer to him. He was more protective over her now than he had ever been. Never in his wildest dreams would he ever imagine that he'd have to put his imprint right in front of a life sucking vampire.

"This is Sam's fiance, Emily." Cora noted her face was gashed. She was beautiful nonetheless but it was shocking to see such a beautiful woman with such large scars. Emily wriggled a bit in Sam's arms, trying to reach a hand out to greet Cora.

"I've heard so much about you." She beamed. Emily made Cora feel welcome and she liked that. Not that the boys didn't make her feel welcome but they were on edge almost all the time.

"I haven't heard anything about you." Cora joked, shaking Emily's hand. Emily pointed at her and laughed along.

"You're funny. I'm going to like you." Cora was glowing. She never wanted the approval of so many humans before in her life but here she was with a yearning to be liked by everyone Paul hung around with.

* * *

"Maybe she just went out to eat. She's been moody lately." Kiera struck Sebastian on the back of the head and rolled her eyes.

"What?! She is!" He defended, leaning over the hood of the small red car. Edward didn't even hear the conversation. He was too enamored with Bella Swan who stared back at him from across the parking lot. Jasper had been on edge all day because of Cora disappearing. He didn't know what to think until she showed up at the end of the day. Will whistled lowly, not too concerned with the scene while the rest of the Cullen family tried to hold in their instinctive anger towards the motorcyclist that carried in Cora. She hopped off and pushed the face that beckoned for a kiss away. As he rode by, Paul locked eyes with Jasper who stifled a low growl. Cora walked over to the line of cars and was riddled with questions.

"Where have you been?!"

"You weren't in AP Bio what's up with that?"

"You we're playing hooky with a dog all day?" Jasper gripped the Jeep door a little too hard and made a small dent. Thinking of Cora hanging out or even being in the general vicinity of a shifter made his skin crawl.

"What? Like I had the option to not be an imprint." Cora muttered under her breath, opening the door to the SUV.

"You're a what?" Cora was shocked at Jasper's tone of voice and her head shot up from looking in the car. She went to say something but her attention was drawn away by a car screeching in the parking lot. Her head and everyone else's snapped in the direction of the sound to see Edward suddenly stopping a car from crushing the new girl Bella Swan. Cora gasped loudly, her and Jasper instinctively reached out for one another, both looking at what he had just done. Everyone gathered around Bella. Everyone except the Cullens and the Spencers who just looked on in horror at what Edward had just done. Cora pulled on Jaspers arm, letting him get the hint that she wanted him in the car.

"Everyone. In the car. Now." She said almost immediately everyone scrambled into their cars. Cora sped out of the parking lot, checking in the back mirror briefly to see that Sebastian had gotten into the Jeep with Emmett, Rose and Kiera while Alice drove with Will, clutching onto the car door for dear life.

"Why would he do something so stupid!" Cora asked out loud

"I could ask you the same thing." Cora avoided the feeling that told her to slam on the breaks and she just looked at Jasper in shock.

"Excuse me?" Hearing the hurt and anger in his voice did something to him. Jasper wanted nothing more than for her to stop the car so he could either have a screaming match with her or just kiss her.

"Oh no, You are not going to be silent about this now. When we get to my house we are talking about this damn it." Cora yelled, driving as fast as she could to make it to the house. When she pulled into the gravel driveway she was almost completely consumed by rage due to Jasper's comment.

"Get out." she commanded, unclicking her seatbelt and pushing the door open with all her might. She wandered out into the wood by the creek near the back of the house and turned to see that Jasper had indeed followed.

"Wha-, what do you, how do you even think I ever had a say in this? Enlighten me! Please!" She felt stupid stuttering but she was so upset.

"No I don't think that but I do think you have a choice in deciding who you spend your time with!" _He was so hot when he was angry. Wait. No! Cora, focus._

"You actually think I had a choice in being an imprint? You actually think I wouldn't have rathered found a mate? Someone I can live with for eternity. Someone of my own kind. Someone I couldn't disappoint because i'm sterile?!" If she could cry, now would be the time Cora would let it fly. She was so angry. Angry at Jasper, angry at herself, angry that she couldn't ever fully make Paul happy.

"I think that you're my choice." Jasper latched onto her face, cupping both cheek with his hands. When his lips hit hers, it was electric. She had never felt this way with Will and she could only imagine what she would feel like if she kissed Paul. Her arms wrapped around his neck and her hands tangled themselves into his honey hair. When they pulled apart she almost whimpered. He rested his forehead on her own and stared into her golden eyes.

"Jasper...I..." Her words were gone and replaced with another quick kiss.

"Let's not fight. Please." He left another kiss at the corner of her mouth and finally a light peck on her full lips. Cora didn't even care about explaining to Alice why she kissed her mate, all Cora knew is that she wanted to kiss Jasper again and again and again.


	10. Chapter 10- Hey Batter Batter

Days past since their first kiss and neither Cora nor Jasper had spoken of it since. There were glances here and there, quick winks and smirks, but neither had mentioned it again. They're legs touched in history, her hand found his thigh during lunch. It was fun being sneaky when they didn't need to be. Or at least that's what they thought. Jasper looked into his locker at the end of the day, deciding whether or not he would need to take anything home with him. A jolt of surprise shot through his body and a pair of arms wrapped around his midsection. He closed the locker and turned around, leaning on it.

"Very forward of you ma'am." He joked, looking down at the small vampire, clad in her signature off the shoulder sweater.

"Yeah well, what can I say?" She shrugged as he put an arm around her shoulder to lead them down the hallway to the parking lot.

"There's a storm coming in later this weekend. Saturday I think. You and your family should come out and play against mine." Cora and her family loved baseball and lucky for them, Forks was riddled with storms on the daily.

"Only if you wanna get your ass kicked." Will butted in, locking arms with Alice and joining the pair in the walk down the steps. With his hearing, Emmett had heard the conversation from the parked cars and smirked.

"Oh I think we can take you. Sebastian doesn't look so tough." Seb spun around and pointed at Emmett.

"Watch yourself Cullen." Emmett put his hands up in a fake scared manner.

"Oh I'm so scared." Rosalie rolled her eyes and opened the car door to let Alice in. Boys will be boys.

"Alright that's it! We're settling this on the field Cullen. Vampo a Vampo." Kiera smacked Bastian shoulder.

"Not so loud. My God Bas." Sebastian opened the truck door for his lady love and kissed her chaste before he got in himself. Cora smiled at the exchange and walked herself around to the drivers side door to the SUV.

"I'll see you tomorrow." She shouted the Cullen's way, but really she was addressing Jasper. He flashed her a small smile and a wink before getting into the Jeep himself.

That evening the Spencer family all went out to hunt. It had been a few days without them eating considering all the commotion from Edward saving the new girl at school. The family was frantic trying to keep up appearances they hadn't had time to go out to eat. Cora perched herself on a tree branch and scanned the area for anything. A deer, an elk, a bear, anything. Suddenly the tree she was in began to sway and her grip tightened on the trunk. Cora looked down to see a big grey wolf rubbing itself up on the tree she was in. Cora smiled to herself and rolled her eyes, jumping down to the ground to stand next to it. The wolf almost smiled when she dropped down beside him.

"What do you think you're doing sneaking up on me like that?" She teased, her hands on her hips. The wolfe nudged his head under her hand, making it rest between its ears. Cora laughed and scratched the spot, making the wolf nuzzle in closer. Cora gently pushed on its face and laughed gently.

"Go do what you do to switch back. This whole dog thing is getting weird." A short bark came out from the wolf and it went around a tree and behind a bush. From behind the bush popped a shirtless Paul who buttoned his shorts and did a short jog to get back to Cora. Paul pecked her lightly on the cheek, making her grin ear to ear. Cora lightly pushed his warm chest away and they started a walk hand in hand to the river that separated La Push and Forks.

"You smell a lot worse than usual." Cora scoffed with her mouth agape.

"Wow thanks, that's exactly what I want to hear from you. Im swooning. Oh my stars!" She joked, pretending to faint into his arms. Paul rolled his eyes, catching his imprint and immediately pulling her back up.

"I mean more vampy than usual." He bumped her with his hip as they came upon the water bank.

"I live with a family of vampires. I'm from a family of vampires." She said, sitting on top of a boulder and picking up rocks to skip. Cora's heartbeat sped up at the thought of Paul finding out about the kiss she had shared with Jasper. He had a hothead and got angry fairly easily. If he found out that she was confused or that she was tossing both of them up in the air as options, he would lose it. That explanation was good enough for Paul because he just shrugged and threw a rock down stream.

"You know if you wanted to hang out, you could just come over. My family doesn't bite...Well they don't bite that hard." She teased. Paul rubbed the back of his neck and looked at her unsure of himself.

"I don't know, angel...We aren't exactly on the same page if you get me." Cora nodded. He was right. Her family would welcome him but it would be rather weird for him to just start coming around all the time. Not to mention how upset it would make Jasper to smell dog on her all the time. Jasper. His face and his smell filled her senses and she felt an overwhelming feeling of peace. Jasper was everything she had ever wanted but Paul? Paul was the universe. She thought about him at night and his image drove her mad. His dark skin, his inviting eyes and warm body that made her feel cozy and safe. But she knew she could never make him fully and truly happy. Cora would never be able to give him children and that thought killed her inside. But his smile he gave her told her a different story. He wanted to give her the world. He wanted to travel the world with her and even though they wouldn't be able to grow old together, at least he'd be able to spend an eternity with her.

"Well, you interrupted my dinner so I'm gonna go find a deer." Cora brushed herself off and placed a small lingering kiss to Paul's temple before running off to the middle of the forest.

* * *

Daniel and Carina were ecstatic when the Cullens had asked them to play baseball the following day. It had been so long since they could play with enough people. Cora pulled on a pair of grey leggings, striped calf high socks, a dark blue sweatshirt, a grey vest and her Cleveland Indians hat. She gave herself one last look in the mirror and ran down the steps to meet with the rest of her family who was waiting on her.

"For someone who has an eternity to get ready you don't play around do you?" Cora hit Will in the chest with his own hat she brought down for him which he gladly placed backwards on his head. Cora walked right out the door and climbed up into the passenger side of the truck, making Will drive.

"You look like you took extra time to look nice this morning too. Who would that be for?" Cora pondered knowing the answer to her own question.

"Oh I did not."

"You did so, you have more cologne on for whatever reason and you put gel in your hair. When was the last time that ever happened?" Cora asked, sticking her tongue in her cheek. Will brushed her off. So what if he did those things? He wanted to look nice. They were going out and seeing people other than his family. He wanted to look his best. The field was a little muddy and the Cullens were clad in baseball gear like the Spencers and Will and Cora shot each other amused looked.

"Hope you're ready to lose!" Cora yelled, jumping on the back of Jasper. He was clad in a baseball shirt and a pair of jeans and good God did he look good. Jasper dropped his bat and held onto the legs that were strapped around him.

"Oh you think so huh?" He teased, turning his neck to look at her. Cora jumped off his back and caught eye of Rose who was wearing identical clothing to her.

"Well they can't say you don't have style." Rose smiled, giving Cora a hug and laughing at their matchy outfits.

"Alright how are we splitting up teams?" Emmett asked, tossing a bat to Will who was yards away.

"Well it looks like everyone has shown up now." Carlisle said, seeing the jeep pull in. Edward had brought the Swan girl to the game. Cora looked up to Rose in worry. Rose rolled her eyes and nodded, confirming Cora's suspicions that Bella had found out about them.

"Bella! Good. We need an umpire." Esme said, wrapping an arm around Bella.

"She thinks we cheat!" Emmett said matter-of-fact.

"Oh I know you cheat. Call em' like ya see em' Bella." She encouraged.

"Hows about Emmett, Edward, Alice, Will, Carina, Kiera, and Esme as a team and Cora, Jasper, Rose, Carlisle, Sebastian, and myself?" Daniel suggested. It was 7 against 6 but it would be just fine. Edward and his team took the outfield first leavin Jasper and Cora to argue over batting order. While she argued she could have sworn she saw a blur of fur in the corner of her eye near the forest but then it disappeared. Alice looked to the sky and a crack of lightning followed by thunder rang out.

"It's time." She got ready to pitch and Rose was first to bat, hitting a line drive into the forest.

"That's gotta be a home run right?" Cora heard Bella say, which made her laugh.

"Edward is very fast." Esme countered. Edward was fast but unfortunately for him, Cora had a mad hit streak when it came to baseball. The ball flew back from the emptiness of the forest and Esme caught it without a hitch and Bella called Rose out. Cora thought she was safe but that wasn't her call. Cora was up next. She walked past Jasper who twirled his bat in the most un-human way but she snatched it right out of his hands.

"Excuse you." He laughed, reaching forward, wrapping his arms around her, trapping her.

"Oh let me go you big bully." She teased, wriggling. He wasn't as strong as Emmett but his grip was a killer to get out of. He pressed his lips to her ear and his voice was as raspy and deep as ever.

"I'll let you go if I get a kiss for good luck." Cora spun around in his grip and looked wide eyed at him.

"In front of everyone? Are you nuts?!" She almost yelled. Jasper shrugged and let her go so she could bat. Alice smiled at the both of them. She thought about Jasper and how close they had become over the years. Maybe there was a reason for them finding one another when they did. Maybe there was a reason for the Spencers showing up when they did. Maybe, just maybe, there is a reason for her and Will to share visions. Maybe if her suspicions were correct, having to talk to Jasper about her inklings would blow over well. Cora hit a ground ball the bounced all over the place, causing Kiera to get to it first, doing a cartwheel, catching it, and throwing it to first. Cora had already made it to base and she stuck her tongue out at her sister who returned the gesture. Carlisle was up next, hitting a high ball that caused Emmett and Edward to ram into one another and Cora to steal two bases. Jasper was up after that and pointed his bat at Cora, with a wink before striking it with all his might. Cora ran home, sliding in despite Edwards best efforts at trying to tag her out. Three outs were had and the teams switched. Cora and Jasper played outfield and ran after the same ball Emmett had hit deep into the wood. Cora got to it first, reaching down and picking it up to rub in his face.

"Ha! I'm faster than you!" Cora stuck out her tongue and Jasper rammed into her, her body pinned to a tree, the ball still in her hand.

"Just because you're a sore loser doesn't mean you can rough house with me." Jasper took her chin in one hand and brought her lips to his own. Cora melted into the kiss, it was sweet and rough and she loved how animalistic it felt to be with him. Her hormones were going crazy and she loved how his mouth felt on hers. His lips were soft and silky. It was if she melted into them. If it weren't for another crack of thunder, who knows when they would have pulled apart.

"They're gonna come looking for us."

"You didn't give me a good luck kiss." Cora lazily wrapped one arm around Jasper's neck, pulling him in for another short but tender kiss before pushing him away and throwing the ball to home.

"Come on!" She yelled, smacking his butt lightly and running off to the field.

"Took you long enough." Sebastian teased, making kissing noises at Cora. She flipped a middle finger up and ignored her brother. Alice and Will suddenly got very blank faces. They saw three figures with red eyes drawing closer and closer.

"Stop!" The both yelled. Will latched onto her, his fingers wrapping around her hip. Jasper blurred over to Cora who looked up at him with fear in her eyes at whatever her brother and Alice saw together. Jasper's eyes were full of worry but Cora felt protected and safe in his arms. As did Alice in Will's. Edward ran to Bella and instructed her to let her hair down.

"As if that'll help." Rose sneered, bumping into her once again. Cora hated to agree but she was right.

"I could smell her across the field." Cora continued for Rose, Jasper stood in front of Cora slightly but all the the vampires protected Bella, much to Rose's dismay. From the wood appeared three very real, very red eyed vampires who looked like they caused a lot of trouble for the Spencer and Cullen families. The man who seemed to be the leader of the clan held up the baseball that was just hit in one hand.

"I believe this belongs to you." He threw the ball at Dr. Cullen

"Thank you." Carlisle said, smiling politely with a nod.

"I am Laurent. And this is Victoria, and James." Cora had never seen eyes so red before in her entire lifetime. Her hold on Jasper tightened but she stood her ground with her family.

"I'm Carlisle," Carlisle gestured to Daniel.

"This is Daniel, and these are our families." Laurent's eyes scanned the clans, looking over each individual quickly but never staring on for too long that he would get suspicious of Bella.

"I'm afraid your hunting activities have caused something of a mess for us." Daniel said, a protective arm around Carina's mid section.

"Our apologies, we had not realized the territory had been claimed." Laurent's voice filled with genuine sympathy while the looks one James and Victoria's faces were that of malice and looked that of a predator.

"Yes, well we all maintain a permanent residence nearby." Carlisle said with a small smile.

"Well we will not be a problem anymore, we were just passing through." Edward sneered at the group and it took everything in Kiera and Cora's power to not beat him into the ground right then and there. The red-head smirked and her eyes snapped to Cora.

"The humans were tracking us, but we led them east. You should be safe." Cora gave her a polite smile.

"So," Laurent drew out

"Could you use three more players?" All of the children looked to their patriarch of their respective families for an answer. Both men stood their ground.

"Oh come on, just one game." Carlisle broke first. Will knew there was no way that Daniel would have allowed them on the field with Bella. It was way too dangerous.

"Sure. Why not? A few of us were just leaving, you can take their place. We'll bat first." Carlisle tossed the ball back their direction and Victoria caught it flawlessly.

"I'm the one with the wicked curve ball." Jasper laughed deeply and Cora felt his chest rumble.

"I think we can handle that." Cora smiled up at him and walked back to the plate. She sensed most of the danger was over for now. Edward stared on at James whose eyes were like daggers. He turned Bella around, guiding her to get back into the car and a breeze blew by, sweeping up her hair into the wind. Sebastian and Will's eyes widened, realizing what was happening. They both ran the direction of Edward to step in front of Bella.

"You brought a snack." All the men in both families fought their way to the front of Bella while the women brought up the second line of defense.

"The girl is with us." Carlisle said, his stance threatening, Cora and Kiera placed their arms around Bella, forming a protective shield.

"I think it's best if you leave." Daniel continued, front and center with Carlisle protecting their families. Laurent put his hands up signaling that they were leaving. As they walked off, Edward rushed Bella into the car and sped off.

"What do we do?" Kiera asked, grabbing hands with Sebastian.

"Who cares. It's just another human." Rose crossed her arms, unhappy about the entire situation.

"Edward cares for her, so we must care for her. Daniel," Carlisle placed a hand on Daniel's shoulder.

"I'm sorry to have brought your family into this." Daniel smirked and rubbed his chin.

"We're all kind of family now right? I can't speak for my family but as for my wife and myself, we'll help in anyway we can." Esme and Carina shared a motherly look of understanding, Esme's filled with gratitude.

"I'm in, let's kick some ass." Bastian said, rolling up his sleeves. Kiera stepped forward as well.

"If he's in, I'm in," She smiled up at Bas, and bumped him with her hip.

"We're a packaged deal."

"Well," Will sighed, adjusting his hat.

"You're gonna need me if you want to see the next move of the tracker. Without me and Alice together, neither of us is going to get an accurate read on the guy." Alice gently squeezed Will's hand in appreciation. Cora felt a light squeeze on her side from Jasper who threw his head in the direction of her siblings as if to say "well, go on then."

"Someone has to keep Rose sane so I guess I'm in too. Plus having someone who can move things and people with a glance might be helpful." She joked. Jasper placed a small kiss to the side of her head in thanks and each family decided it would be best to meet Edward and Bella at the Cullen household.

"I might not be the strongest but I definitely have more power when it comes to all of you. I'll go with Emmett to make sure they make it to the house safe."

"Let's get it shortie." Emmett said, high fiving her. Cora placed a small kiss on Will, Sebastian, and Daniel's cheeks before running off to catch up with Edward and Bella.


	11. Chapter 11- Endings and Beginnings

Bella couldn't believe she had even said those things to her father. She gave him every line her mother ever gave him and she saw how broken that made him. She had half a mind to turn around and take him with her.

"He's going to forgive you." Jesus H Christ. She almost stopped the car right there when Edward appeared at her window.

"Here let me drive." She opened the still moving car's door for him, letting him in. Bella scooted down the bench seat, her head in her hands just baffled at herself.

"I gave him every line my mom ever used. He's not going to forgive me."

 _ **BANG**_

Bella jumped in her seat and turned to look in the back, her heart racing at the thought James might already be on her tail.

"It's just Cora and Emmett." Bella looked to see the small vampire and the large one standing in her truck bed. She felt safe with Edward and Emmett alike so shouldn't she have felt just as safe with Cora? She didn't look like much compared to the other vampires but having another one on her side was good enough for Bella. Kiera and Sebastian followed the orange truck all the way to the Cullens house. Sebastian shouldn't have read his lady love's mind but her thoughts were so erratic.

 _I should have changed her eye color for her. Why didn't I change her fucking eye color? God this wouldn't have happened if I had just-_

"Kiera! Stop thinking like that! He still would have smelled her if you changed her eye color. You couldn't have prevented this. Do you do tell the wind?"

"No.." Her voice was low and quiet.

"Then please don't blame yourself. If anyone's to blame it's Edward for bringing her out to the field." He said more aside to himself. He never meant to slight Edward but he was being idiotic. All of the vehicles pulled into the Cullens garage minus the orange truck that sat out front. Walking in the front door, Bella's heart caught in her chest st the sight of Laurent.

"He's come to warn us."

Cora could barely hear Carlisle his voice was so quiet but she evesdroped the entire conversation. Leaning into the door to the house from the garage ever so slightly. She heard the footsteps from the foyer come her way and she went back to her position sitting on top of the Jeeps hood.

"I wish we could have seen something earlier." Will said, arms crossed in contemplation. Alice pecked him on the cheek, and ran her nails across his back lightly.

"We saw as much as we could Will. We just need to practice." Alice always had the right thing to say. Will was greatful for that.

"I've had to fight our kind before. We're hard to kill." Jasper said packing a supply bag for him and Cora.

"But not impossible. We'll tear him up." Edward said, taking Bella's coat.

"We'll rip him apart with our hands. And burn the pieces." Emmett sneered, throwing bags into the Jeep. Daniel grabbed more cellphones and flashlights to put into the SUV.

"I don't relish in killing any of our kind. Not even a sadistic one like James." Carlisle nodded at Daniel's comment. The two were more alike than he had realized.

"This is insane,you cant put yourselves in danger for me." Bella almost yelled. She was frantic as anyone would be. Cora shot Jasper a look and he nodded, focusing his mood to Bella to calm her.

"Too late for that." Edward shot Rose a nasty look. Rose had never approved of bringing a human into this life but here Edward was, willing to put his life on the line for someone he barely knew. So why should she put forth the effort.

"I'll take her south, Carlisle, lead them north, Daniel, lead them west, and Seb, lead them east." Edward said, throwing the respective keys their direction.

"Edward no," Daniel said, looking to Carlisle.

"Daniel's right, you can't take Bella, the tracker thinks you won't leave her side. He'll follow you." Alice stepped forward to Edward.

"I'll take her south. Will and I will drive her south. I'll keep her safe Edward. Will and I together will be able to see his every move, not just a guess." Edward was frustrated and conflicted. He finally looked to both Will and Alice.

"Can you both keep your thoughts to yourself?" They nodded after giving one another a confirming glance. Edward pulled clothes from Bella's suitcase and tossed them the direction of Esme, Rose and Cora.

"You put these on, lead the tracker away from Bella."

"Why should I? What is she to me? Just a danger you've inflicted." Cora understood where Rose was coming from. It was insane to be putting forth this much effort for a human.

"Rosalie. Bella is with Edward now. She's a part of this family and we protect our family." Carlisle said, trying to convince her. Rose rolled her eyes and pulled the jacket on. Cora gave Rose a small side hug and then climbed into the SUV passenger seat after tossing the keys to Jasper. It was going to be a long night.

* * *

"Bella! You're up. Please, you should eat." Alice offered her a plate, one of many scattered about the hotel room.

"They could get hurt. I'm not worth this." She said ignoring the food.

"Yes it is," Bella was taken aback by Will's words.

"Now I haven't known the Cullens very long but I definitely know them well enough to know that Edward has changed since he found you. And I speak for her family as well as mine that neither of us want to look at him for another hundred years if he loses you." Suddenly Will and Alice reel back, their eyes a glaze into the distance.

"The tracker." Will said, his hand on top of Alice's

"He's just changed course." She finished.

 _Rose and Emmett run across a hill. Rose stops and rubs herself on a tree then runs off to leave the scent elsewhere. Cora and Jasper cross the creek and she does the same to a nearby fallen tree. James is not far behind and follows the smell to the tree then stops, backtracking. He smells it once more and strikes the tree with a vengeful smile on his face. James turns around and heads the opposite direction. Suddenly a room full of mirrors appears._

Will reaches in his gaze for a pencil and paper, and he begins to draw the room he sees, every detail. Suddenly, just as fast as they had been pushed into the vision, they were pulled out.

"An old ballet studio?" Bella asked, turning the paper around to see.

"You've been here?" Alice asked

"When I was a kid yeah. I went to one just like this here in Phoenix." Will and Alice share a confused but horrified look, not knowing what to do next.

* * *

Hearing Bella had gone out on her own didn't surprise anyone. Especially Cora. She knew that there was no keeping her away from trying to protect all of them but it was just stupid. Trying to protect a coven of vampires was ridiculous.

Jasper drove as fast as he could to the ballet studio Edward had given him direction to but Cora's mood was distracting. Closing his eyes briefly, he pushed warm thoughts to her to calm her down and it worked for a time.

"Oh God. I can smell it from here." Cora almost jumped out of the car at the smell of all the blood. As soon as Jasper threw the car into park they rushed in to see besides Edward, they were the first ones there.

"You're faster than the other but not stronger." Cora's eyes flashed brightly and she lifted James up. In his surprise he dropped Edward who struggled to get his footing back. Cora flung her eyes to one of the mirrors much like James had seem to have done earlier. He crumbled in pain when he hit on impact. Cora smiled, self assure MI but James was fast. He picked up both Cora and Jasper's legs, flinging their backs and ran back to Bella, sinking his teeth into her.

Edward rushed James, swinging him around like a baseball bat into every mirror. When incapacitated, Edward finally ran to Bella's aid. Jasper and Cora were helped up by Will and Alice. The four charged James, Jasper grabbing an arm, Will grabbing an arm and the girls jumped on him to loosen his head. Emmett had started a fire from the loose floorboards and waited for someone to throw him a body part. The four tore James to pieces one by one until there was nothing left. Cora looked on at Alice who sat with Edward. Bella didn't look good and she was worried about letting this change happened. Before she had even registered what had happened, Cora saw Edward sucking out the venom From Bella's hand. All she could do now is hope he would be able to stop

* * *

It was a close call but Edward had found the will to stop and Bella was going to be fine according to Carlisle. Cora promised she would take this time to actually get to know Bella. It wasn't fair to just not like her because Rose didn't like her. She had just snagged a book off one of the shelves in Edward's room to relax a bit when she walked into the den and saw Alice and Will resting their eyes. She just stood there, leaning on the doorway, not making a peep. Alice's head rested on Will's shoulder and they both had a small content smile on their faces. Cora needed to ask her and Jasper about the two of them. For months the four of them had been dancing around the question of mates for a while but no one brought it up. A pair of lips placed themselves on her shoulder briefly before coming up and she leaned back into the strong chest it belonged to.

"Do you love her?" Cora was still staring at her brother and Alice, no sound coming from either of them. Jasper sighed quietly behind her before answering.

"I do. She found me in 1948 in a small diner in Philadelphia. I was a nomad. Alone and without a clan or any idea of how to survive off of anything but human." His arms let go of her and she turned around, following him to sit on the stairs. 1948...Philadelphia...it all sounded so familiar.

"She showed me Carlisle and my family. And it's been this way ever since." Cora rested her own head on Jasper's shoulder and contemplated her next words.

"I think we were in Philadelphia in 1948...I think Daniel and I found William that year.." She trailed off, trying to remember the circumstances for finding Will.

"We found him in a diner...well, Daniel did. I knew him before that. I was a staff nurse for the Eagles at the time. He didn't even make the first game before he got injured. It was really bad. I turned him myself in the rec room.." She glanced up At Jasper who had never heard this story before.

"I went back With Daniel so he could tell me what to do next and he was just gone. He ran off. I never thought we would find him again until we stopped in that diner." Jasper opened his mouth to say something but was interrupted.

"What diner?" Alice appeared in the doorway, Will right behind her. She turned up to look at him before Cora replied.

"Not into football huh?" She raised an eyebrow and looked to Cora to continue.

"I think it was the Breyer Light. It was small and had these awful yellow-"

"chairs." All four of them finished together. Alice's face contorted into confusion but then a realization.

"I could only see bits and pieces that day...I'm sure I saw Jasper from the back when I did. That's how I knew he'd be there. That blonde hair was a giveaway." Will's face broke out into a realization himself.

"I couldn't control my power at that point. I just thought I was losing my mind. Then I saw the short dark brown hair of a petite woman in this diner. Then Cora came in. I thought it was a sign." Cora looked from one vampire to the other who stood before her.

"You don't think..."

"That I was supposed to be Rosalie's "twin" brother? I think exactly that." Will said matter-of-fact. It all made sense now why Alice and Will were stronger together and why both had pulled off from who they thought was their mate.

"I was supposed to find you that day. You're the one who needed me." Alice put both hands on Will's chest. Cora looked to Jasper who hadn't taken his eyes off of her.

"That means you're...I mean we're...I..." Cora couldn't find her words, there were so many emotions flowing through her and she couldn't tell if it was because of her own or because of Jasper. All she knew is that if this was a dream, she didn't want to wake up.

* * *

"Bella! Happy birthday!" Kiera yelled, giving her the biggest hug imaginable. Bella was very uncomfortable. She didn't like celebrating birthdays but here she was.

"Kiera can you keep it down? I don't want-"

"Happy birthday Bella! I got you something." Alice descended upon the group gathered in the hallway, Will on her heels.

"Alice I said no gifts." Alice brushed her off and rolled her eyes.

"I know but guess what, we already saw you open it and you love it! You're going to wear it to the party tonight." Edward groaned at the thought of a party being held. He knew how Bella hated extra attention.

"Where was my invite?" Cora asked, walking up with Sebastian. Jasper pulled her close to him with both hands as he leaned his back up on a locker.

"Wherever I go, you go." He smiled and kissed the tip of her nose, making her laugh. She had put Paul on the back burner as of late due to her extreme circumstances. He wasn't happy with it obviously but he respected her wishes to want to stay friends. After the Victoria incident, Paul had been over periodically to sit with Cora and talk. But just as friends. As happy as Paul made her, nothing made her feel more alive than being with Jasper. Paul was just happy to be a part of her life considering there was no real reason she gave him for not wanting to take anything further.

"Well go with me to History, come on." She laughed, grabbing his hand to drag him along with her.

"Oh and Bella! Happy-" Bella spun around and shot her a sour look.

"Nevermind." Cora smiled, walking hand in hand with Jasper.

* * *

Cora looked at herself in the mirror one last time before heading over to the Cullens for Bella's birthday. She smoothed the navy lace that clung to her body and did a little 360 to see how it looked all around. It was the fourth dress she had tried on and she was determined to finally leave the house in it.

"You're dressed up." Instinctively Cora put her hand to her chest and spun around to see Paul on her balcony.

"You have to warn me before you come over!" She smacked his upper arm but still gave into his warmth and gave him a long hug, nuzzling her face into his bare chest.

"And yes, I am dressed up. I was invited to Bella Swan's birthday party." She said looking at her earrings. Paul almost gagged when she said Bella Swan.

"That Black boy has had a stick up his ass about her for so long. Wish I knew why." Paul propped himself up on Cora's bed, crossing his legs and taking a photograph of her and Will off her nightstand to look at.

"She's nice once you get to know her. A little clumsy maybe but nice nonetheless." A brief knock was heard at her door and in popped the head of Will.

"Hey Core, we- Oh hey Paul," Paul gave Will a half wave and continued to pick at the things on Cora's night stand.

"Core, we gotta get going. Let's get a move on beauty queen." with that Will left the room and Cora turned to face Paul.

"Alright, I'm leaving so that means you have to scram wolf boy." She said, pretending to shoo him off her bed. He obliged and went to the bannister to climb back down.

"Whatever you say vampire girl. I'll see you later, angel." He gave her a small peck on the cheek and then disappeared into the forest. Cora raved down the stairs and appeared in front of Will, keys in hand.

"You ready princess?" He teased. Cora rolled her eyes and made her way to the car.

When they had arrived at the Cullen's, the party had just started but Edward was on his way with Bella. Cora walked in and was greeted by a big hug from Rose and Will was greeted by a big kiss from Alice. Cora smiled at the sweet exchange. Alice and Will seemed so happy together they were almost glowing when around one another. Alice took Will by the hand to drag him down into the den where everyone else was.

"You look nice." Cora complemented Rosalie. Rose was not happy she had been pulled into this affair. Bella was so willing to become a vampire and so unhappy with aging. If it were up to Rosalie, she would switch places with Bella in a heartbeat if that's what it took. Rose, her arms crossed af is she were cold, smiled sweetly at Cora, reaching out and locking arms with her to walk into the den. She was so glad to have a best friend like Cora around. Someone who understood what giving up a life would mean. Rose didn't feel alone anymore when it came to Bella. Cora understood all too well what it meant to give up her life for the eternity she was bound to.

"Hey Cee, what's up!" Emmett only had one volume, loud. Cora liked it though, he was always the same old Emmett. Her hand met his in a high five and a quick side hug.

"Just living the dream. You know." She winked. Emmett's smile widened and he latched onto Rose from behind, kissing her neck lightly to make her feel even the tiniest bit better. Cora looked around the room and took note of the dozens of candles laid about. She wondered if that would be a good idea considering how clumsy Bella was but it wasn't her idea to throw a party, it was Alice's. The pictures that hung on the wall intrigued her and Cora walked over to look at them. The first was of Rose and Emmett off on a fishing trip. The second was of Carlisle and Esme at one of their weddings and from the look of it, it was one of the more recent ones because all of the children were present in it. The third was a recent one of Will and Alice on the couch upstairs. The last one Cora picked up and held onto the frame. Cora was laughing at something off frame of the picture and Jasper smiled into the side of her head. She didn't remember this picture being taken but it was now one of her favorites. Strong arms wrapped around her mid section and a face buried itself into her neck, leaving light peppered kisses up and down her neck and shoulder.

"I was wondering when you were going to turn up." Cora smiled contently, turning her head and pecking Jasper's mouth.

"I can't stay away from you." He lightly squeezed her sides, making her jump. Alice's squeals signaled that Bella had finally showed up with Edward for her own party. Jasp slipped a box into Cora's hands and she looked at him in confusion. His lips met her ear briefly.

"Alice picked out something. I just put our names on it." Jasper whispered, placing a kiss on her ear before his mouth retreated. A chorus of 'Happy Birthday' s followed as Bella came down the stairs. Rose held out her gift first and walked away. She was always so cold to her. Alice snapped pictures left and right, trying to capture the day on film. Bella was less than enthused about turning a year older than Edward.

"Here, we thought you were looking a little pale, something to brighten your day." Esme held out a small box, neatly wrapped.

"What is it?" Cora asked Jasper, still looking at the box he had handed her.

"It's a-"

"Gah, paper cut." Bella said, her finger dripping in crimson blood. Cora immediately looked up to Jasper who's face contorted in an unnatural way.

"Jas-" Before Cora could get anything out at all, Jasper stepped aside from her and charged Bella and Edward. Edward pushed Bella out of harm's way and struck Jasper, making him crash into the piano, breaking it with his force. Cora dropped the gift and sped over to him, trying to help Carlisle, Will, and Emmett restrain him. Cora placed both hands on his face, looking deep into his eyes.

"Hey, love, hey it's fine. You aren't going to hurt her. It's just a little...blood" The once light smell of human blood had since increased to a persistent smell. Cora turned around to see Edward had thrown Bella into the wall, causing a lot more bad than good.

"Jesus fuck Edward." Cora said, not being able to control her mouth. Carlisle grabbed Bella's arm and instructed Will and Emmett to get Jasper out of the house. Cora and Rose went off to help calm Jasper down from his break. Cora knew it wasn't easy for him and she was sure he hated himself in this very moment.

 **As you can see the votes have tallied in favor of our favorite southern gentleman! But never fear, New Moon is upon us which means heartbreak not only for Bella but for Cora and Will. Keep on reviewing and sending me messages! It lifts my spirits!**


	12. Chapter 12- Dont Need Him

Cora found Jasper outside, angry at himself. Emmett stood outside near the door, arms crossed. Will stood near Jasper, watching him hit as many trees as he physically could. Cora looked up to Emmett who glanced down at her.

"He's gotta get it all out. He hates himself Cee." Cora nodded and patted Emmett on his shoulder, her hand lingering there for a minute. He placed his hand over her own and nodded his head the direction of Jasper.

"Go get him. He'll listen to you." Cora pulled her earrings out, and threw her heels on the deck before taking her time to walk out to see if she could help.

"Wanna wrestle around a bit? Get that anger out." She joked, trying to lighten the mood. Jasper sighed, stopping what he was doing and looked to Cora. His hair was a mess and his eyes would have been red with tears if he were allowed to let them fall.

"Cora it isn't funny." He brushed his blond locks out of his eyes and sighed, resting his forearm on a tree. Cora looked to Will and nodded her head in the direction of the house to tell him to go. She had this. Cora blurred herself behind Jasper, and wrapped her arms around him, her hands resting on his chest.

"I know love. I know. You aren't your actions." She placed a kiss in the middle of his back, and rested her cheek there.

"I'm weak Cora. I'm so weak." His voice was that of a broken man and it split her heart in two to hear him talk like that.

"Jas, let's go upstairs. Okay? I can rub your back a little bit. Or we can just sit in silence if it helps." Jasper kissed the inside of her palm, nodding. Cora took lead and reached her hand out to him, guiding him upstairs to his room. Edward interfered in her thoughts, telling her Bella would be fine. She breathed a sigh of relief, walking to the dresser drawers in Jasper's room to grab some clothes. She opened the chest of drawers and pulled out a baseball tee. She smiled at the thought of the day she saw him wear it. He kissed her in the forest and she was smitten with him to no end. Cora changed in the bathroom, coming out from it and tossing her dress on the arm chair. Jasper was right where she left him. Sitting and sulking on his bed. Cora walked over to him an crawled up to straddle his lap. He lightly placed his hands on the tops of her thighs and looked up into her eyes. Cora brushed his hair out of his face, and held it gently with her small hands.

"What am I going to do with you?" A question she needed no answer for.

 **Sorry for the late update! Life has been pretty hectic as of late!**

"Come on love, lets get you out of these." Cora pulled off his sweater for him, and started on the buttons of his shirt. He was so sad and lethargic. It was like taking care of a sick child. Cora knew he just wanted to be held. She knew he didn't mean to but she understood he didn't have as much control over his emotions as of now. His frustration, anger and sadness flowed into her. She knew how he felt and it upset her to no end. She was midway down his shirt and he latched onto her, holding her to his body, never wanted to let her go. She held his head to her chest and simply rocked with him. If he could cry she would let him. Cora would sit up with him all night and just let him cry but he couldn't, no matter how hard he tried or wanted to. She lifted his head up lightly and kissed where tears would fall.

"Come on, Jas let's get you comfortable okay love?" Her moody vampire obliged, taking the rest of his dress shirt off. Cora jumped off his lap and grabbed a pair of sweats from the drawer for him to put on. He pressed his lips to her forehead before grabbing them and changing faster than the speed of light. Cora had already taken her position in his bed, sitting up, arms out, telling him to come over. Jasper laid himself down on top of Cora, his head resting on her chest. Cora kissed the top of his head and rubbed the back of his neck. Jasper contemplated his next words carefully but he knew he had to say it.

"I love you."

* * *

Cora laid there all night with him like that. She had never seen him so vulnerable before and she liked it. No words were said just the sounds of the outside. Jasper kissed the top of her head and let her snuggle into his chest a little more.

"Cora, we have to get up and get ready." She groaned, turning over and wrapping herself in a blanket.

"But why? I know all the information." Cora didn't want to go home to change and she sure as hell didn't want to go to school. Jasper laughed, the night yesterday already forgotten, and got up to get ready for the day. Cora turned over and grabbed her own clothes off of the night stand before running to the bathroom door.

"I'm going to run home super fast and get some actual clothes." She smiled, kissing Jasper on the cheek lightly. His smile never faltered even after Cora left the room

* * *

Cora hoped that everyone would just put the little stint behind them when she pulled up with Will. Seeing Jasper again made her heart soar but his face was pained once more. Will wrapped an arm around Alice and leaned in for a kiss which she turned her cheek to. Cora looked to Sebastian who simply shrugged. Bastian was never much help. Cora could feel how tense Jasper was throughout the day whether they were holding hands or sitting next to one another. The school day was very somber and none of the Spencers had a clue as to why.

Bella closed her locker and jumped at the sight of the small vampire.

"God! Cora, seriously? You think I need another accident." Cora winced and looked at Bella with sad eyes.

"I'm really sorry about that. It wasn't intentional, I thought you saw me." Cora turned on her heel and walked to the parking lot with Bella.

"Have you noticed how weird everyone has been today?" Cora asked. She wondered if Edward had been acting this way towards Bella at all. Bella stopped and Cora had to do a double take to make sure she wasn't dreaming.

"Yes! I thought it was me! Edward and everyone else has been...I don't know...off. Like all day." Cora was exasperated at this point.

"I know!" The two started their walk again and this time they were stopped by Edward at the steps.

"Hey can you take Bella home? I don't have time today." He was brief and without a word of acceptance on the matter, he left. Cora rolled her eyes and felt like she was going to scream.

"What the fuck is going on today?! Come on." She grumbled, leading Bella to her car. Cora dropped Bella off and the entire ride there, neither of them spoke a word.

"Thanks for the lift. I'll see you around though. Maybe tomorrow?" Cora was waffling the idea of taking a day off to go eat but she didn't know how Bella knew that. Bella ran a hand through her long locks and sighed, closing the door to the SUV. Cora rolled her eyes, still completely flustered at the way everyone was acting at the end of the day. She shuffled through her thoughts and tried to find a moment where she might have said something to set him off or set any of them off but she couldn't come up with anything. Her thoughts were cut short by the sight of Jasper sitting on her porch. Finally, she could get down to whatever was going on with them. Cora crossed her arms, making her stance firm so Jasper knew she would not be talked down to or moved on whatever he had to say.

"So are you going to explain what the hell your deal was today? Because frankly after last night, I'm not too sure that I deserved any of what you were feeling." Jasper pushed himself up from his knees, standing and walking toward the lake that was so graciously put behind the Spencer household. Cora could just scream because his broody mood drove her insane. Cora pinched the bridge of her nose and reluctantly followed Jasper to the edge of the water. She had seen this side of Jasper before. The side that didn't want to speak with her for some unknown reason. That side that when they just met made her want to kill him right then and there for being so rude. His face told a story that his eyes couldn't back up. He did his best to not look at her, she could feel how much he wanted to though.

"Cora, we're leaving." A wave of relief crashed over her.

"Oh thank God, I would love a change of scenery." Cora was over Washington at this point and hearing that their fathers had spoken with one another about relocation as a whole made her feel a lot better than she had been feeling all day.

"No. Me and my family are leaving Cora. You and yours are staying here." Cora's brow furrowed at his words, his accent more distinct than ever.

"What are you even talking about?" Her hands found home on her own hips, her protective stance had no effect on whatever he was saying so why put up a front?

"Last night. We've decided we have to get out of here. I'm not safe to be around people. We're moving back to Alaska." Cora pushed on his shoulder, her mouth agape.

"Look at me, that's not a problem. No one know what happened and Bella won't say anything, Hey, I thought we were good...I thought I helped last night." Her voice was soft and quiet nearing the end of her sentence. Jasper still didn't look at her.

"We've been here so long people are beginning to notice. Carlisle is supposed to be 10 years older than he says he is. We have to relocate." Cora ran a hand through her short hair, trying to wrap her mind around what he was saying.

"Well we'll talk to Daniel, we can all relocate. I don't want to leave you." She reached for his hand and he turned away.

"God damn it look at me Jasper." His eyes finally met hers for the first time that day.

"I don't want you to come. That whole thing with you and me and Will and Alice? It's all bullshit. If it was meant to be it would have happened. Alice is my true mate. She came into my room after you left this morning and we talked about it. I'm in love with her and I will always be in love with her Cora. It was never you." If she could blink away tears, she would. If she could throw up, she would. If she could kill him, she wouldn't. She wouldn't because Jasper was the love of her life and she knew it in her gut. And he knew it too no matter how badly he wanted her to believe he didn't. His words were like a slap in the face.

"Then why tell me you love me? Why all the bullshit?" Cora was on the edge of hysterics and her heart hurt.

"Because you were a distraction Cora. Nothing more. Nothing less. Something to liven up the relationship Alice and I have." Cora's eyes flashed and she debated whether or not she should throw him into the lake right then and there. Her eyes flashed back to their original golden hue and she held her head with both hands, unable to process anything.

"Fine. Then leave. But know, I will not be here if you decide to come back. I want nothing to do with you for the rest of my eternal life Jasper Hale. Never speak to me again." She turned to leave, to rush into her house and sulk in her room for the rest of the day. Jasper snatched her hand, which she ripped away. She didn't want to hear what he had to say because she knew whatever it was, it was going to be hurtful.


	13. Chapter 13- Walk on the Wolfy Side

Cora was so lost in her thoughts and her sobs sans tears that she didn't even hear the all too familiar sound of Paul climbing her balcony.

"I could feel how much your heart hurt, angel." He said climbing into her bed to wrap her up in his arms.

"Do you want me to kill him because I'll kill him. Don't have to ask me twice. Hell you don't even have to ask me at all just look at me and I'll go find him right now an-" Cora put her hand over Paul's mouth to silence him, laughing quietly. He always knew how to make her laugh. She curled up into him, savoring the warmth he gave off.

"Just hold me. I need you." those words echoed in his ears over and over for the rest of the night until dawn. Finally his imprint needed him and he would be there for her every second of every day. She wish she could drift to sleep as easily and Paul could. She wished she could find release in her dreams but she hadn't had a dream in over 30 years. She studied his face and how he looked when he slept. He always was so riled up all the time but now? Now he was almost in bliss. She adjusted herself in his arms, snuggling deeper into him and she saw a small smile creep on his face at her movement. Maybe this is how it was supposed to be? Maybe her and Jasper weren't meant to be. Maybe she was supposed to be with Paul. It's not the like universe put them together for nothing.

Cora took it upon herself to slip out of Paul's grasp and make him a big breakfast. She knew that Carina would have a few things in the fridge just in case we had ever decided to have people over. In the past when they lived in Hilton, they had people over all of the time. She hopped her mother didn't stray too far from her old ways as she tiptoed into the kitchen. Much to her surprise, the fridge was still packed and how Carina ever kept the produce fresh she would never know. On the carton of eggs was a piece of paper.

Smelled him come in last night, I stocked the fridge with everything a growing boy could possibly need for breakfast. Feel better kitten ~ XoXo Mom

Cora smiled at the note and started to whip up a big breakfast, laying out eggs, toast, bacon, pancakes, waffles, and fruit. She knew he'd eat a good amount of all of it and it felt good to do some domestic work for once. She missed it back when she was alive but then again she never really got to experience life to the fullest as it is today when she was still breathing.

"Damn, I'll tell you what, If i was still alive." Cora jumped, turning around to see Will who had apparently taken to the couch for the night. She could see the pain in his eyes and how sick he looked. She figured Alice had told him how she really felt last night too and it broke her heart to see her brother as broken as she was.

"I'm glad you aren't. Cause it isn't for you." She laughed, pouring a glass of orange juice and setting everything up on a tray to take back upstairs.

"I know it isn't. Does he realize "sneaking in" isn't a thing when you're dating a vampire who lives with vampires?" Cora rolled her eyes at his air quotes and picked the tray up, scurrying up the stairs to find Paul still asleep, and sprawled out on her bed. He smelled the food almost instantly and sat up, looking at Cora with admiration.

"You didn't have to do all this? I should be the one making you breakfast." Cora crawled up into the bed and sat the tray down, Paul staring at all its glory. Cora leaned over and placed a lingering kiss on his cheek before laying back and watching him scarf all of the food down.

"I wish we could be like this all the time. Domestic. Normal." She sighed, smiling down at her feet. Paul grabbed her hand in his own, lacing their fingers together and kissing the top of her knuckles.

"We can be whatever you wanna be, angel." His brown eyes made her melt inside. Everything about him was warm, his body, his hands, his smile, his eyes. And yet all the exact opposite of her own. That was the part that sucked. The part where they were two complete polar opposites.

"Stop." It was almost as if he could read her mind. Her thoughts then went to Edward which went to Jasper and he mind filled with rage.

"Stop what?" It came out a little more harsh than intended and she almost winced at her words herself.

"You're overthinking this. You're overthinking just being together. I can feel it." He laughed, tickling her sides, making her clench her hands over his own that were around her hips. Her barks of laughter only pushed him further, rolling her onto her back as he hovered over her.

"I give I give! Uncle Uncle!" His hands pinned her own above her head as his lips neared her ear.

"Ya know, I prefer daddy." Cora rolled her eyes and scoffed. His demeanor made her laugh and she was glad that sometimes he was a flirtatious ass.

"Oh get off me you big dummy." She laughed as he pecked her cheek and jumped from the bed, stretching himself out. She propped herself up on the back of her elbows, and just looked at him as his body contorted and his muscles rippled. She felt her throat well up and her stomach was warm. She hadn't been warm in over 50 years but this man made her feel warm. Whole again.

"You should come with me down to the reservation. We'll have a big bonfire, a cookout, we'll snuggle up by the fire, get lost in the woods." He said raising his eyebrows in a suggestive manner, putting both of his hands on either side of her, leaning closer and closer to her. She wanted to kiss him so badly. She wanted to be everything for him right then and there and the fact her cold body couldn't provide the warmth she knew he needed and wanted, she wanted him.

"Oh what kind of girl do you think I am Mr. Lahote?" She questioned, pulling at the nape of his neck, her hands playing with his hair. His mouth inched closer and closer to hers and the lump in her throat made her head feel light.

"I think you're the perfect kind." He whispered, lightly pressing his mouth to hers. It wasn't anything like Jasper's kisses. It was warm, painstakingly so, and light, like he didn't want to hurt her. It made her feel whole again, like the hole in her chest had finally closed up when he lightly pulled at her bottom lip, giving her small kiss after small kiss. When he finally pulled away from her he rested his forehead on her own, the conflicting temperatures making them feel like steam could come off of them at any second.

"Alright you convinced me." Cora rolled her eyes, pecking his lips once more before going to look for a jacket. Paul flung himself over her balcony, hitting the ground and rushing off to get a shirt he had stashed behind a bush along with his bike. After pulling on her black hoodie and a pair of light wash jeans, Cora walked to the edge of her balcony and watched him as he pulled the motorcycle onto her yard and over to where she was.

"What? You assumed I was going to say yes?" She asked amused, being met with a big fat grin from Paul who rubbed the back seat with his hand and held his arms open for her. With lightning speed she ran down there, hopping up on his waist, her legs wrapping around them tightly and his arms holding her up by her butt. She forgot why she was upset at all when she was with Paul. When she was with Paul she felt this overwhelming sense of peace and warmth. A warmth he wanted to dip her whole body in and relish in. She thought that's what having sex with Paul would be like. Just dipping her entire body in hot wax.

"You ready?" He asked, content with the position they were in.

"Let's get out of here playboy." She teased, latching onto his mouth once more, his mouth enveloping hers in a sweet lock. Kissing Paul was going to be Cora's favorite thing. She could feel it.

He felt it. He felt her. Her emotions, her anger at him, her happiness and contentment when she was with him and he hated all of it. Alice came up behind him, doning a new pair of sunglasses. Her arms wrapped around his chest, as she stood behind him, knowing all he was doing was sulking in the arm chair.

"She's happy Jas. Let her be happy." His teeth clenched and he hated himself more than ever.

"She should be happy with me."

Feeling the wind blow through her hair was a new experience when she was with Paul. She felt human when she was with him as they climbed the winding roads to Emily's house. She couldn't help but let out a large 'Woo!' After he had pulled into the gravel drive, kicking the stand out. Paul laughed, pulling his helmet off and swinging his leg over the motorcycle, setting the helmet on the bike before helping his imprint off.

"Enjoy the ride?"

"You have no idea." She smiled widely, wrapping her hands around his neck, his hands finding his waist, almost burning an indent into them.

"If you liked that ride, I have another one in mind you'll like even-"

"Cora! I was wondering when we'd see your bright and beautiful face again!" Emily cut Paul short of his vulgar comment that would have been sure to make Cora scoff, hit him, but then reluctantly give him a big kiss, which is what he was hoping for.

"Perfect timing Em." Cora smirked at Paul, letting go of him and running up to give Emily a big hug.

"He promised me a bonfire and fun so point me in the direction!" She laughed, pulling away from the scarred girl.

"I'm still cooking actually if you would want to help?" Emily seemed unsure. She hadn't had many encounters with vampires so her etiquette was almost nonexistent.

"Yeah I cook, I used to cook...I still cook." Cora laughed, pushing her hair behind her ear and following the small woman inside to help in the kitchen. Cora was met with several hoots and whistles from the rest of the boys who were chowing away on waffles no doubt made by Emily.

"Thank God, you're back!" Jared yelled, coming in for a quick side hug of the small vampire, which shocked her.

"Yeah, now we can get a break from Paul's obsessive inner monologue. Newsflash, dude's obsessed with you." Sam laughed, pecking his fiance on the cheek as she showed Cora around the kitchen. It warmed Paul's heart to see her interacting with his family. He wanted her to be a part of his world as much as she probably wanted him to be a part of hers. In his eyes, she was as perfect as they came and there was no changing that. Especially when she wore jeans as tight as the ones she had on in that very moment.

"So this is the cold hottie you we're talking about." Cora looked to the smaller shirtless man she had never seen before now. She could have sworn she heard Paul snarl at his comment but she brushed it off and stuck out her hand.

"Yes that would be me. Thanks for the introduction. Good to know he speaks highly of me." She joked, hitting the larger man with her hip as she walked around the island to greet who she assumed was a new wolf.

"Embry." He said, flashing her a toothy grin. Paul playfully put him in a headlock and Cora couldn't help but notice the was his shirt tightened around his bicep, making it look bigger than it already was.

"Yeah, new blood." Paul said as the two men wrestled out into the front yard. Cora let out a breath of air she had no need to hold and walked back to Emily who was laughing to herself.

"Is it always like this with them?" She asked the copper skinned woman. Emily halted shucking corn for a split second just to give Cora a small sad smile and a nod which only made the pale woman laugh.

"Oh great. So it's like having a bunch of frat boys over all the time." She gathered, taking up shucking corn next to her new friend. Emily was about to say something when the two men finally decided to be finished with their roughhousing.

"Hey, I'm nothing like a frat boy." Paul said, resenting the statement. Cora held her tongue in her cheek, deciding whether or not it was a good time to let out the retort she had come up with on the spot.

"Oh no I know playboy, Frat boys actually have a college education." She teased, biting her bottom lip and trying to hide behind Emily as Paul gave her a mischievous look.

"You better run Spencer." Cora let out a squeal and she rushed out the door, much faster than her shifter counterpart. Emily was speechless after seeing, or rather not seeing, Cora run away. She was surprised Sam had even allowed Cora to show up to the bonfire at all. But there she was, out in her front yard, making Paul smile like Emily had never seen before. The man had gone through his fair share of disappointment and bad news. Cora couldn't have come along at a better time for him. She stopped her cooking for a moment, looking on at the scene in her front drive as she wiped her hands with a towel, resting them on top of the island. Paul was turned around in circles looking for the little vampire that had run a top some tree in order to get away from him. She figured Cora would cave, letting Paul win. He wouldn't admit it to himself, be he knew she was faster than him. Cora jumped down, her legs wrapping around his waist, placing a small kiss to the crook of his neck, making him smile at her. Emily was happy Paul had finally found his person.

The smell of wet dog had become a distant memory from the time she had first smelled a shifter. After being around Paul for so long, Cora was actually starting to smell him, not the dog. He smelled of leather and...motor oil? Gasoline? Whatever it was, it had something to do with the man's bike and she loved it. After a little bit of a yelling match between herself and Jared on the correct way to build a fire, she had finally been able to snuggle up to Paul on the ground as they leaned up against a log. She couldn't believe how much food the boys could eat but she had to get used to the sight and probably pick up a few tips from Emily if she wanted to stay in Paul's life. And at this point, she was hoping she did.

"You don't have a curfew or anything right?" Paul asked as he finished off another chicken bone, making Cora scrunch her nose up at him in disgust.

"Yeah, no. One of the perks of being ancient is I don't have a bedtime, unlike some people." She prodded him in the chest. Paul wiped his mouth with a napkin and reached for his bottle of water.

"Im older than you, angel." He pointed out, making Cora snort out a laugh, something she hadn't done in decades.

"I got a good 50 plus years on you young blood." She joked, feeling him tense up and shake his head, faking a shudder.

"Let's never mention that again." Cora laughed,turning so she could pin his lap down with her arms, leaning up so his face was inches from hers.

"What? Not into the whole cougar deal?" She teased, trying to be seductive. Paul almost spit his water out at the attempt.

"Not when you look like that." He gestured with the bottle, raising his eyebrows at her when she gave him wide eyes at the fact his eyes lingered on her chest for a good six seconds.

"Look like what?" She asked incredulously, wanting and waiting on the cocky man she had grown too fond of to come up with a retort. His mouth opened but Jared's voice was heard instead.

"Can you two like not be gross all the time? Like damn, Im eating." He said with a mouth full of biscuit. Paul and Cora, almost at the same time picked up balled up napkins and threw them in Jared's direction, both hitting him in the face. The two of them were one in the same yet so extremely different. All Cora wanted in that moment where she was laughing and full of joy for the first time in 24 hours, was to be with Paul for the rest of her eternity.

 **Author's note: YOOOOOOO sorry i've been MIA midterms are a bitch. Here's an UPDATE update. Hopefully ya'll see where im going with this ;) PMs and Reviews are more than welcome. As are gifts of appreciation and human sacrifice lol**


	14. Chapter 14- Forget for a While

Will was the sulking master at this point. After Alice had told him he was old news and she saw that he would never find his mate, he hadn't left his room. Kiera stood on the outside, her head resting on the doorframe. She was so lost in her nerves she didn't even feel Sebastian come up behind her. He wrapped his arms around her torso, his chin resting on her shoulder.

"Standing out here isn't going to do him much good Kiera." She smiled sadly, her arms still crossed as they were before but her mind boggled. How Cora could just run off like nothing ever happened was...good? She supposed as much but Cora had a coping mechanism, she had Paul. Cora had a failsafe. Will's failsafe? It was apparently listening to sad John Mayer songs and Coldplay.

"I just don't know how we can help him. He's been a big mopey mess since they all just got up and left." Sebastian sighed, letting go, rubbing the back of his neck and leaning up against the bookcase in the hall.

"Maybe there's nothing we can do. Oh, I know, Let's get a wolf to imprint on him!" Kiera spun around at the man who had his arms crossed and an amused smile on his face.

"Not funny. Serious Bas we need to find a way to cheer him up. This is just sad. And I hate Coldplay." She said scrunching up her nose. Bas smiled slightly at his mate, kissing her temple before going to the door himself. No one had bothered Will for 24 hours since Alice had come by to drop her bomb. His knuckles lightly tapped on the door, and he leaned his head in.

"Hey Will, you wanna talk?"

No answer. Sebastian looked to Kiera who looked just about as confused as he did. He tried once more.

"Dude, open up. The Coldplay has gotta go."

No answer. Seb put all his body weight on the door in anticipation. Kiera's entire body clenched up at what she knew her mate way about to do. Seb wasn't always the most graceful.

"Alright ready or not princess, here I co-" Seb pushed all his weight into the door, which happened to be unlocked, barging in and stumbling. Kiera peered around the doorframe to see how much damage Sebastian had done but was met with a different realization.

"He isn't even in here? What the hell? Why would he subject us to this crap?" She asked, pulling the plug from the stereo that was blasting the damn music. Seb brushed himself off and looked around the room, seeing the balcony door was wide open.

"Well where the hell could he have gone? Does he have friends outside of us?" He asked really to himself not necessarily out loud to Kiera who happened to be fingering through their brother's records.

"All of these classics and that little bitch decides to play Coldplay?" She said, turning over a Kansas CD. Sebastian turned to leave the room to go talk to Daniel when he stopped in his tracks.

"Are those my pants?"

* * *

 _When you try your best but you don't succeed_

 _When you get what you want but not what you need_

 _When you feel so tired but you can't sleep_

 _Stuck in reverse_

 _When the tears come streaming down your face_

 _'Cause you lose something you can't replace_

 _When you love someone but it goes to waste_

 _What could it be worse?_

Will was so stuck in his own head as he walked down the sidewalk in Port Angeles. His mind was just full of garbage and his headaches were back. Her picture was burned into his head and he wanted to get it out. He would do anything to get it out. Her perfect mouth, her beautiful hair, her small nose, her-

 **SMACK!**

Will was turned around and pulled the headphones out of his ear, being face to face with a very pissed off Jessica.

"Wow, nice walking there Spencer." She said, looking a little irritated. Will put his hands up in defense and pulled his sunglasses off.

"Jess, hey, yeah I'm sorry, didn't see you there." He said pulling his headphones around his neck, so they had somewhere to hang.

"You've been kinda MIA lately. Still playing this season?" She asked, shoving her hands in her pockets. Will hadn't even given the football season a second thought since Alice decided to leave.

"Yeah, I think so. How's uh...what's his face...Newton?" He thought they had an on-again-off-again thing going on but he wasn't really sure. When it came to school he stuck to sticking around with Cora, the rest of his siblings and the Cullens...well he used to.

"Ha, yeah right. That's a good one. I don't really want to know how he is to be honest." They sat there, standing in the street, looking at one another with an awkward tension.

"I was uh, going to go get something to eat down at this little diner if you uh, if you wanna come." She asked, tucking hair behind her ear.

"I heard it's been a few rough hours. Seb isn't too good at keeping his mouth shut." Will reminded himself to kick his brother's ass later.

"I mean, I just ate but yeah. I'll go with you. I could use some company." Jess smiled brightly at him as he tucked his earbuds into his pocket and strutted next to her down the sidewalk.

* * *

"Shes home!" Kiera yell-whispered to her mother as she blurred to the window to spy on her sister.

"Oh would you let her have her privacy." Carina scolded, coming up behind her daughter to peek around the blinds with her. Cora was standing in front of Paul who had his butt resting on his bike, keeping him steady.

"They're totally watching us." Cora laughed, playing with the hair at the nape of Paul's neck. He smirked at her, gripping her hips and yanking her towards him so their pelvises were on top of one another.

"Do you wanna come in?" she asked as he pushed her hair out of her face.

"It's always more fun when I sneak upstairs." He said, giving her a wolfy grin before he placed kisses on the side of her neck.

"Hate to break it to you playboy, but it isn't sneaking in if the whole house can smell you." She laughed as Paul pulled away, a pout plastered on his face.

"So you don't want me to come by later?" Cora smacked his chest with her hands lightly, giving a pout of her own.

"I didn't say that." She said. She decided to place a long kiss on his warm mouth before strolling inside as fast as she could to catch her mother and her sister in the act. When she got to the living room, Kiera was on the piano, reading a magazine upside down and her mother was cleaning a pot with a spatula.

"Smooth. The both of you." Cora said, throwing her jacket at her sister. Kiera stuck her tongue out and gave her sister a big hug.

"I'm just happy you feel better. Plus Will is on his way back." Cora pulled up to look at her sister, shock plastered on her face.

'Will? Where? Where'd he go?" She asked looking from Kiera to Carina. Her mother lifted a cup of what she assumed was deer to her lips and nodded, a small smile on her face. She was elated her son had finally come out of his funk.

"Seb got into his head and found he jumped ship to go to Port Angeles. He had dinner. With Jessica." Cora's mouth hit the floor.

" _Jessica Jessica?"_ Kiera nodded and squealed with her sister at the excitement. Kiera was just glad the Coldplay would stop happening. A car pulled into the driveway and the three women blurred to the curtains to peek, the smallest one fighting her way to the front. Jessica's small red Honda pulled up the winding driveway and her headlights shut off. Will actually enjoyed his time out of the house today with her. There was so much to Jess he didn't know. She liked to write poetry and go hiking. She was into Dirty Headz and she thought the bachelorette was a load of crap. She wanted to be a professor of biodiversity at Brown when she graduated. Will had no idea she was so smart. The way she acted pushed off a different vibe but today she was a completely different Jessica.

"Your house is insane." She said looking to Will and then the house. He leaned up on the hood of her car as she marveled at the cozy wooden getaway that was hidden in the middle of the woods.

"Yeah my dad thought it would be a good change for us. It would uh, center us back to ourselves. He said." Will laughed thinking about Daniel's words.

"You should totally throw ragers out here." She said turning around to lean on her car with him.

"Ya think?" He smiled, looking down at her.

"Oh absolutely. Not like you need any help with friends." Will scratched the back of his neck and let out a deep sigh.

"I don't think I'm as popular as you're making me out to be. Everyone thinks I'm a dick."

* * *

"What in the world are you women doing?" The three almost screeched in surprise at Daniel sneaking up behind them. Carina lightly hit her husband's shoulder and peered around them to see what they were looking at.

"Will...went out?"

"With a human." Carina added

"With a human..." Daniel repeated, nodding his head as they all stared at the scene in front of them. Will finally had a some on his face.

"Well it's pretty late...and I know you don't have a curfew but I do." Jess laughed, pushing herself up off of the hood. Will shot her a puzzled look.

"What do you mean you know I don't have a curfew?" Will laughed, crossing his arms amused. Jess raised an eyebrow at him.

"Really? Will, you are oozing cool guy energy. Not to mention you're like the hottest guy at school. Oh my god why am I still talking?" She asked the last part to herself as she widened her eyes and shook her head at her own words. Will scratched his chin and smirked, nodding once.

"So you think I'm hot." He mused, making her turn several shades of red.

"Oh my God stop." She laughed out, pushing his shoulder.

"I had a good time out with you tonight. Thanks. I needed the night away." He smiled, hitting her hip with his own.

"Maybe we can do it again? Sometime?" Will smiled and nodded.

"I'd like that...but eh...you should get home. Wouldn't want you getting in trouble." Will said pulling her in for a hug. Jess wrapped her arms around his midsection, her head hitting his chest she realized how cold he was.

"Get inside, you're freezing!" She teased, opening her drivers side door. Cora placed her hand over her mouth to stifle a laugh from hearing Jess mention how cold Will was and Kiera pushed her sister lightly.

"Oh stop! Oh shit here he come." Everyone ran from the window and scattered about the room just as the door clicked closed.

"You guys are all really bad at that. Especially for vampires." Will said, hanging up his jacket. Cora was playing the piano, Daniel and Carina were playing cards and Kiera was flipping through stations on the television. For the most part they did the act normal thing quite well.

"You don't even play the piano." Will said, sliding up next to Cora on the bench to play the other end of the keys.

"I always wanted to learn." She said matter-of-fact, playing a rather bad rendition of One more Night. Daniel walked Carina to the couch before lighting the fire place just below the television and joining his wife.

"Where's Seb?" Kiera asked just as her mate came inside from the garage, his hair dripping and his leather jacket in his hand.

"This asshole," Bas pointed to Will who was smirking to himself.

"Wouldn't let me in his head. So I rode all around town looking for him. And he was in fucking Port Angeles with-"

"Jessica." Everyone finished at the same time. Sebastian was at a loss for words and just let out a series of huffs before throwing his jacket to the corner making Carina look up at her son with a pointed look.

"I'll pick it up before I go up stairs okay ma?" He said, plopping down on the couch, throwing his arm around Kiera who pecked him on the cheek before snuggling into his arm.

" _You and I go hard at each other like we're going to war."_ Cora sang lightly, her finger brushing over the keys as she glanced up at Will who's face bore a small smile.

" _You and I go rough, we keep throwing things and slamming the door."_ Will continued. He missed just being around his family. When times were simpler and less complicated. Less...frustrating. Carina rested her head on Daniel's shoulder as the flames danced across all of their faces, listening to the oldest Spencer children serenade them.

" _You and I get so dysfunctional we stop keeping score."_

" _You and I get sick, no we can't do this no more."_ Cora couldn't get the smile off of her face. After an unbelievably shitty day previously, she had an entire day to make up for a lifetime of shitty days.

" _But baby there you go again there you go again making me love you."_ Her mind flashed back to a time before the Cullens, before all of the heart ache.

 _Cora sat at the piano in the small upstate home. Her fingers lightly brushing the keys but steadily messing up every now and again. Two arms came around her, sneaking their way under her own hands to play. She giggled as her hands rested atop the rough hands that had taken over for her, playing a small beautiful melody. It was almost so beautiful she didn't feel the lips pressed to her neck. She turned her head, leaning back into the body that had her pinned to the bench._

" _And here I thought you just played football." Cora laughed, leaning up to catch the blonde athlete's mouth with her own. She spun around to face him, her elbows resting on the keys making a satisfying array of sound when they hit, making them pull apart._

" _And here I thought you were Rita Hayworth." He whispered, a huge smirk plastered on his face._

" _Oh Will stop."_

They played together for a few hours more, the family reminiscing and laughing together. Suddenly they all stopped. Seb covered his nose with his hand and Kiera hit him for being so dramatic.

"Well I guess it's time to turn in for the night. Kids, upstairs. Cora, go let the dog in." Carina teased with a wink, ushering everyone upstairs. Cora blurred up to her room as fast as she could but Paul still beat her to it. She opened her door to see him lounging on her bed, a book in his hands.

"Dear diary, today I met the most beautiful copper man. I think I'm in love with him. He looks like a greek god and I bet he fucks like one too." He read allowed, a smirk playing about his lips. Cora crawled up next to him and snagged the book out of his hands.

"Nice try." She rolled her eyes and looked at the cover.

"It's Sylvia Plath. Not a diary." She said tossing it across the room and straddling the shifters hips with her own, grabbing his neck to pull his mouth to hers, almost hungrily. His hands almost burned on her hips as his thumbs traced the small patch of skin under her shirt.

"Well if you had a diary I imagine it would say something like that." He said when they pulled away, thrusting his hips up at her in a playful manner.

"More like: 'I met the most pompous, arrogant, sleaze today." Paul's face was plagued with fake hurt from the words his imprint said.

"Oh yeah?" He asked, faking stupidity.

"Yeah." She mocked, causing him to flip the both of them, him pinning her arms above her head as he attacked her neck with hot peppered kisses. She bit her lip in bliss. Cora never wanted this, whatever it was between them, to end.


	15. Chapter 15- Idiots

Cora decided last night that she wasn't ready. She didn't feel right almost giving herself to her imprint but that's what bothered her. Shouldn't she feel like she should be giving herself to him fully, completely and entirely? I mean for the love of Christ she was his right? And he was all she had on her mind. Alright, she knew that last part wasn't true. She'd be a liar if she said Jasper didn't cross her mind every now and again. She couldn't help but wonder, while in her deep meditative state, if he missed her at all. He said he didn't care but there was this part of her that still ached, this part of her that still wanted him and wanted him to want her. She was so lost in thoughts that she didn't feel Paul get up in the morning. What had tipped her off was the use of her shower. She stretched her body out like a cat and got up to go to her bathroom, hoping a little bit that she could get a peak at Paul.

"You can hop in whenever you're ready princess." He teased. _Damn he was quick_. Cora smiled and laughed as she reached for her toothbrush, turning on the water in the process.

"You'd like that wouldn't you?" She said before sticking the brush in her mouth. The shower curtain clanged and Paul's head popped out from behind it, dripping wet. Cora's mind couldn't help but wonder to the rest of his body and what that looked like soaking wet.

"Ya know, I would actually. Very much." He said matter-of-fact, making her laugh again. Cora picked up the towel that hung next to the sink and tossed it at him. Paul caught it effortlessly and turned the water off to get out. Cora spun back around and if blood could rush to her cheeks, she'd be as red as a rose. She wanted to shut her eyes when she heard the curtain open but she didn't. She wanted to run away like a giddy little girl but she didn't.

"That lavender vanilla stuff you have smells amazing." Paul said, putting a qtip in his ear to clean it out. Cora raised an eyebrow and spit into the sink, spinning around to face him.

"I don't own any laven-" Her words were gone. It was if they disappeared in thin air. She saw him without his shirt all the time, sure, but this? This was different. Paul stood in front of her clad in nothing but a towel. Her towel. His chest and abs were still partially wet and his hair was soaked despite his best efforts to towel off in the shower.

"I know you don't, I just wanted you to look at me." He smirked, wiggling his eyebrows at her as he came towards her. Cora braced herself against the sink as his lips came into contact with her neck, then up her neck, then finally on her lips. She wanted to take the towel and run but she decided to act like the adult she was and not the teenager her body was cursed to be in for all eternity. Just as his hand guided her own to where he had tucked it into his hips, her fingers grazed his hip bones and she marveled at how cut the man was. She didn't deserve anyone who looked like a greek god when they stepped out of the shower.

"Jesus H Christ! Tell the man to dry off or get out! It smells like wet dog in here!" Sebastian pounded on her bedroom door, making her jump and scurry to her dresser for clothes. Paul smiled to himself and closed the bathroom door to change. He knew it would take a while for her to come around to the idea of being together...sexually that is, but he was ready and willing to put in the time for it. Afterall, Cora was worth every bit of time he had left in the world.

* * *

Bella was at her wits end. Charlie had threatened to send her to live with her mom so she had to come up with some bullshit lie that she was going to hang out with Jessica that weekend. Jess was busy with Will Spencer of all people and that's when the idea hit her. She could just hang out with Cora and Kiera and hopefully one of them would have some sort of information on where Edward and his family ran off to. She had nightmares... night terrors really, every single night since they had all left and she didn't know what to do to fill the void. She spent some days with Jake, building motorcycles to get her mind off the pain. He filled the hole in her heart for a time. Jake became distant though. He didn't call much anymore. That's how Bella Swan came to knock on the door to the Spencer household, holding her heart out on her sleeve, hoping someone would take her in and offer her some sort of advice. If anyone understood it would be Cora.

Cora ran down the stairs at a normal speed with Paul close behind her and the two of them ignored her mother's please to be careful as they chased one another around the upstairs.

"Take it back Spencer!" He yelled at her, wrapping her up in his arms, sending her into a fit of giggles as they walked to get the door together.

"No! You smell way worse than I ever do. That's a fact."

"Oh, I'm gonna make you take it back later." He growled into her ear, sending chills up and down her back.

"I'd love to see that happen." She laughed, opening the door to a very sad looking Bella Swan. Cora swatted Paul off of her and held the door open for her.

"Bella?" Bella looked up and finally had a smile on after weeks of not even contracting her mouth into anything other than a perpetual frown. The smile turned to confusion when she saw Paul standing there.

"You're one of Sam Uley's guys arent you?"

"What's it to you?" He asked and Cora smacked the top of his shoulder. Paul didn't take abuse but from her, it was a love tap.

"Don't you have things to do?" She emphasized, hoping he would get the hint.

"Yeah, I'll see you later." He said giving her a kiss on the cheek before running out her back porch.

"Bella come in, it's awful outside." She said beckoning the girl in and closing the door. Bella took her jacket off and hung it on the hook near the door before pushing her hands into her back pockets.

"So...You and...that guy?" Cora pushed her hair behind her ear and stuck her hands into her own jean pockets.

"Every girl has to have a bad boy phase right?" She saved. Cora didn't know the rules on who she could or couldn't tell about the shifters so she just kept her mouth shut. Bella just nodded and followed Cora into her living room where Kiera was posted up, flipping through a magazine.

"Bella! Hey! How are you?" She asked as soon as she saw the small frail human, tossing her magazine aside and giving her a hug.

"I've been better, thanks Kiera." She smiled slightly, taking a seat on the couch and turning to Cora.

"I know...I miss them too."

"Do you have any idea where they even ended up?" She asked. Bella was still trying to wrap her head around the fact they left. They just up and left. Cora's mouth hung open, unaware on how to respond.

"If you don't that's okay I just feel kinda lost. Jake hasn't been returning my phone calls and I just don't know what to do." She said brushing her hair behind her ear.

"Well let's go talk to him. If he's being a dick about not seeing you, let's go bother his ass about it." Cora said going for her jacket and Bella's eyes widened.

"Are you serious?"

"Absolutely, get your things, I'm driving." cora wanted to ask Kiera to tag along but the problem is with the treaty, her sister wasn't allowed on the reservation, Cora on the other hand was. It didn't take long for Cora to get to Billy Black's house considering it was off the beaten path but Cora found a few backways to get her there faster than the main roads could. Bella stopped halfway to the door when she realized Cora wasn't following her. She turned around and saw her leaning up on the hood of her SUV, her arms crossed as she watched Bella.

"Aren't you coming?"

"Nope, I'm just here for moral support. This is all you honey." She said picking at her nails then giving Bella a thumbs up. She had only disappeared for a couple minutes when she smelled them. An overwhelming sense of calm filled her when she smelled the leather. Her eyes darted to the treeline and she saw him with Sam, Jared and Embry. She could feel his...energy? Aura? Whatever it was, it was drawing her down to the tree line but not as much as seeing Bella run towards them in a rage. She was frozen. Cora didn't know what to do.

"What did you do?" She yelled, Sam put his hand up to stop Paul but Cora could feel him filling up with anger from where she was.

"What did he do huh? What did he tell you." Paul sneered, still being held back by Sam.

"He tells me nothing because he's scared of you!" Paul began laughing as did Embry and Jared at her comment. Bella, fed up, slapped Paul right across the face. Seeing him shake was enough to break Cora out of her trance and she ran across the yard to try to get to him before he phased.

"Paul stop!" She yelled but he was already shaking too badly. Before her stood the angriest form of him she had ever seen and she didn't know whether to reach out and help or to stand back and let him eat Bella.

"Cora get out of the way!" Jared yelled, tackling the vampire to the ground as a large russet wolf came up behind her to come at Paul. Seeing him getting hurt only filled her rage. Cora pushed Jaren off of her and scrambled to her feet but before she could run off to help Paul, Sam placed a hesitant hand on her shoulder.

"He'll be fine Cora, take Bella back to Emily's place." She snapped her head in his direction but he had already jogged off to go find the two idiots. Cora spun on her heels and shoved her hands into the pockets of her jacket.

"Well are you idiots coming or not?" She shouted behind her as Bella followed closely behind. Embry and Jared pushed on eachother, racing to get to the car first. Emily's house was just down the road so it wasn't that far of a drive. Cora had almost missed the turn thinking about ripping off the head of who she could only assume was Jake in wolf form. Jared had to tell her to stop and point her down the direction of the small secluded house. Cora liked how Emily decorated. Her house was warm and cozy.

"Are they gonna be okay?" Bella asked, still in the passenger's seat even though the other three had started walking up to the house.

"I hope Paul sinks some teeth into him. Serves him right." Jared laughed, receiving a high five from Cora.

"Did you see Jake phase on the fly? I got 10 says Paul doesn't even touch him." Cora scoffed and pushed on Embry's shoulder lightly.

"I'll take that bet. He just started shifting. Paul's got experience." She said making an apparent innuendo which made Jared and Embry cringe. Bella finally got out of the car and walked up to where the other three were. Just before they walked in, Embry stopped Bella for a split second.

"Sam's Fiance Emily? Don't stare. It bugs Sam."

"I was wondering when I would see your glowing beautiful face again." Emily exclaimed, giving Cora a big hug.

"Id offer you a muffin but...well you know." She laughed and Cora smiled warmly at her.

"I'd love to help though." She said, taking the wisk out of the copper woman's hand. Emily turned around, placing a huge platter of muffins on the table and catching the eye of Bella Swan.

"Who's this?"

"Bella Swan who else?" Jared said, as if it were obvious. Emily rolled her eyes at him before looking Bella up and down.

"So..You're the vampire girl." Cora cleared her throat and crossed her arms, sticking her tongue in her cheek as she looked at Emily who smiled apologetically.

"You know what I mean." She said, throwing her hand towel at the porcelain skinned beauty that stood in her kitchen.

"So youre the wolf girl." Bell managed to get out. Cora felt like her responses were always scripted. She felt like Bella wasn't even real sometimes, like she was a part of a simulation. The girl was so boring, so bland. The only thing that was interesting about her was her classic truck and the fact two monsters had fallen in love with her. Cora was still trying to wrap her head around that last part. Cora had checked out of the conversation as she was lost in thought but quickly shook her head to tune back in.

"And check it out, we can read each other's thoughts." Cora didn't even know that but then again when she was with Paul, the two of them didn't really talk about their abilities.

"Would you shut up? These are trade secrets damn it! This chick runs with vampires."

"Kind of redundant Jared." Cora countered, making Emily laugh.

"And you can't really run with vampires...cause they're fast." Even Bella's attempt at a joke was painful. Maybe it was the fact Edward had abandoned her forever that made her such a bore to be around. No wonder Jake locked himself away for days at a time from her.

"Yeah, well we're faster." Jared said, trying to be somewhat threatening...or...Jesus Cora didn't know. He sounded like an idiot. She threw the wisk on the counter with a clang and placed her hands on her hips as she walked around the island to stare down the wolf.

"You wanna make a bet wolf boy? Let's take it outside." Cora offered but before Jared could respond, a smile plastered across his face as he looked behind her. Cora opened her mouth to ask what his issue was when a pair of strong arms lifted her up off the ground and brought them down into a chair with them.

"He isn't taking you anywhere," Paul growled with a nip at her earlobe before kissing the side of her head and digging into the muffins. Cora pecked his cheek and Bella walked past her, out to follow Jake. She was glad the two were talking again, maybe this meant that she wouldn't come around her house to bother her anymore. It wasn't that Cora didn't like Bella...Cora didn't understand Bella...or her appeal that she evidently had when attracting literally any man.

 **Author's Note: If any of you have anything you want to see come of this story, any scenes you've had in your head that got you thinking of this little drabble, let me know! It's been fun writing this so far and I hope you all enjoy the Paul chapters so far! Dont worry, a couple more and our dreamy major will be back!**


	16. Chapter 16- It's Been a Shitty Day

"So you and Paul?" Bella finally broke the silence. Neither her nor Cora had said a word to one another since leaving Emily's after dinner. It was most likely because there wasn't a lot to say or maybe because there was too much to say. Cora sighed and ran a hand through her brown locks as a nervous laugh escaped her lips. She knew the meeting in the middle of her foer wasn't going to make Bella satisfied so it had to come up sooner or later.

"Yeah. I guess so. He makes the hole go away." Bella nodded, turning to look at the passing trees. If anyone could understand what she was going through it was Cora.

"He's exciting and warm and fun to be around and he makes me laugh. And he's present. He wants to be with me and you know what? I think I want to be with him too." She said more so rationalizing her thoughts with herself rather than with Bella. Bella was just a witness to Cora thinking out loud at this point.

"Yeah I think about Jake the same way. I mean...He just fills the hole in my heart. It hurts less with him around I guess." Cora gave Bella a small smile and reached out, giving her hand a small squeeze before turning into her driveway and putting the vehicle in park.

"Alright get out of here. Jake's already upstairs in your room waiting on you. I can smell him." Bella's mouth snapped shut as Cora finished her sentence, almost knowingly so. Bella thanked her for the ride and quickly gathered her things and jumped out of the car to scurry into the house. Paul appeared almost out of nowhere and jumped into the now unoccupied passenger seat as she pulled out painstakingly slowly from the drive. At this point Cora wasn't even phased at how fast he had done it or the fact he was following her at all.

"Ya know," She said not taking her eyes off the road while Paul stretched himself out across her dash.

"Some would consider your behavior weird and creepy at best. Normal people don't just-"

"Ah there's where I got ya, we aren't normal angel." He smirked, giving a lingering kiss to the crook of her cold neck. She rolled her eyes and lightly pushed his head away, leaving him with a goofy grin.

"So are we going to talk about how you could have almost killed Bella back there or no?" She asked, shutting her door after they pulled into her garage. Judging by the wrinkling of Paul's nose, she determined all of her family was home. Usually when the smell was strong, he got headaches and couldn't stay long so when people were out of the house, they spent the most time in. Paul sighed and rubbed the back of his neck with one hand while the other snagged her own hand, lacing their fingers together. Paul placed a kiss to the back of her palm, almost avoiding answering her question.

"I mean...It's not me, it's the wolf side ya know? I can't control how I react to people slapping me you know?" She pulled her hand from his and looked at him with blatant disgust.

"That's a total fucking cop out. I cant just go around blaming things I do on the vampire side of myself. I cant blame things on my nature of my being." She said crossing her arms and almost guarding the door to the house.

"Well, thats different Cora, You know what I mean." He said brushing it off and trying to get her to go inside with him, She pushed back on his shoulder however, keeping him from doing so.

"No I don't know what you mean, care to divulge into detail?" Paul stumbled back, trying to keep his cool with his imprint he exhaled deeply, holding the brim of his nose.

"I mean I just have options Cora."

"What the fuck does that mean Paul?"

"It means I still have humanity left in me!" As soon as it came out of his mouth he placed a hand over his lips, trying to get the words to climb back in. He saw the twinge in her eyes and the sparkle that was there dim and her golden eyes darkened and her lips pursed as her jaw clenched.

"I think you should leave." She said quietly, turning back to open the door.

"Baby wait," As soon as his hand touched her shoulder, a ring flashed around her eyes and without looking at him, just thinking, she pushed his body back from her own after promising she would never use it on him again.

"Goodnight Paul." She said sternly, closing the door behind her and locking it. She exhaled a frustrated breath and looked up to see Will's head popped out from behind the hallway that led to the kitchen entryway. Cora let out a groan and held her head in her hands.

"Fuck, how much of that did you hear?" Will shrugged at his sister and walked towards her, leaning his shoulder on the wall.

"How much of it did you want me to hear?" Cora cracked a small smile and looked up into his sympathetic eyes.

"You're my favorite." She said taking the hand he held out to lift her from the ground she didn't even realize she sank to. Cora curled up into the arm he put around her as he led her into the den. She pecked him on the cheek and gave his side a quick squeeze.

"And you can tell Bastian that." She teased as they sat on the couch together for the rest of the evening in comfortable silence, snuggled up with one another. Cora broke the silence just once to test the waters.

"So Jessica?" Will groaned out dramatically and pinched her side.

"Why can't we just sit here and enjoy one another's company? Why do we have to be in eachothers business?" Cora laughed and adjusted her position so she could rest her head on his shoulder.

"It was just a question Jeez, pushy." She said holding back more questions about Jess and about what Alice said to him when she left. She was curious and it had been months since it happened. She just wanted to know if her and Jasper had similar stories...plus her and Will never mentioned it ever even happening.

"Jess...It's a- She's a distraction. Much like I assume Paul would be if he wasn't." He motioned his finger around in a circle. "You know." He said, trying to get out the word imprint. Cora let out an unamused ha!

"Yeah that's a crock. You heard the way he talked to me. Saying I didn't have any humanity left. The fucking nerve of that guy to just..just..AGH!" She let out, grabbing a pillow and screaming into it for a moment. Will put his hands up in defense.

"I only heard what you wanted me to hear so in that regard...yes he is a bag of dicks." Cora smoothed out the pillow she now laid in her lap and avoided eye contact.

"Big bag of dicks." She muttered. Will laughed and pulled her back in with his arm, pressing a kiss to the top of her head.

"Yes love, a big ol' bag of dicks." She felt him smile into the top of her head and she too smiled. Will was good, he was reliable. He was there when he said he was going to be there. He lifted his head and Cora felt his entire body tense up, the kind of thing that only happened when he was having a premonition. Cora blurred over to the desk and pulled out a piece of paper and pen to give to him but Will only brushed her away.

"Will what is it? Do I need to call Daniel?" His eyes darted back and forth as images overtook his mind.

"Bella...she jumped off some cliffs in La Push and...that's as far as I can see...wait!" Cora jolted in surprise, her fingers clenched around his forearm.

"It's Edward...theres...red capes and a bell tower...he's gone to council and they've denied him...he thinks Bella killed herself..." His eyes flashed back and he shook his head clear. He looked to Cora who's eyes were wide in wonder of how he ever had another vision.

"We have to go see Bella." Cora said reluctantly. As much as she didn't enjoy the girl's company, she had to go check on her for the sake of Edward. He never did anything to hurt any of the Spencer's, why would he have to suffer? Will pulled them both to their feet, ignoring the human need for a car and sped off as fast as they could through the woods to Bella's house. As soon as they reached the clearing they saw her orange truck pull in and they were ready, standing in her driveway. Jacob had driven her home from what looked like her adventure at the cliff and had a concerned look on his face as he looked from Cora to Will.

"What's the deal? Are you okay? Paul's been freaking out about you." Cora didn't have time to worry about Paul as much as her heart twinged at the thought of him moping around because of something stupid he had said to her.

"I should be asking you that, Will saw what was going on. What you did, Bella. Are you okay?" Bella nodded rapidly at her, the words not forming in her brain on how to explain to Cora what she did or why she did it.

"I haven't seen anything since.." Will's eyes darted to the silver car parked down the street and then he looked to Cora who had the same look on her face.

"Alice." They said at the same time and went for the door. Feeling Jake pulling up close behind, Cora allowed Will to go ahead of her as she pushed him back lightly enough to make him move but not hard enough to hurt him.

"Cora-"

"Look Jake, Not to go all Paul on you right now, but you know your nature, too many vampires in a room might set you off. So do me a favor as your friend and stay. Back." She emphasized, pushing him back and allowing Bella to follow Will. Jake's jaw clenched as did his fists.

"You know I can't do that Cora."

"Fine, as an imprint of a member in your pack, I suggest you butt the fuck out" She said with a bit more force, shoving him back and blurring into the house to see if their suspicions were correct. The house was dark and as soon as the door closed, Bella switched on the light, feeling protected as ever in between Cora and Will. Much to all of their surprise, there in front of them stood Alice, wide eyed and in shock. Will felt his heart get caught in his throat as his nostrils burned at the smell of her. Honey and rose. She glanced at him briefly before throwing her arms around Bella.

"I cant believe you're here!" Bella exclaimed, her face glowing for the first time in months.

"Would you like to explain to me how you're alive? I thought you were dead. I saw you jump off a cliff! Why would you try to kill yourself? Why would either of you let that happen?!" She accused. Will babbled at her, still at a loss for words at the pixie woman who was in front of him for the first time in months.

"Fuckin' smooth Romeo." Cora frowned, crossing her arms.

"I was cliff jumping, I wasn't trying to kill myself Alice." Bella explained.

"I have never met anyone more prone to life threatening idiocy." Alice exclaimed after they all had calmed down. Cora sat on the arm of the chair Will had planted himself in, deep in thought, still trying to find words to say. Cora rubbed the back of his neck in a loving way, reassuring him that the words would come to him.

"He's torn up Bella. He's locked himself away just to be alone and he's been doing that for months. Bella what is that god awful wet dog smell?" Alice said scrunching up her nose. Will could have died again right there. He had forgotten how cute she was, how cute anything she did was. Bella looked to Cora who sheepishly turned away and avoided Alice's eye contact while she answered.

"That would be both of us...Jacob Black and Paul Lahote probably. Been spending a lot of time on the reservation." She said rubbing her own neck and grimacing as she stared off into the corner.

"Bella, werewolves are not good company to keep. No offense." Alice added, looking to Cora with a sympathetic face. Cora nodded, still not sure whether or not to be unhappy and angered with her and Jasper.

"Speak for yourself." The deep voice came from the hallway behind Cora and Will who immediately stood and took a protective stance.

"Didn't I tell you to back up Jake? Jesus Christ!" Cora exclaimed taking a step forward but being blocked by Will.

"I had to see that she was safe."

"What? Like she wouldn't be safe with us? Come on Jake you're pushing it." Will added, trying to diffuse the conversation but having no control over his own emotions at this point. Alice looked to Will and Jake before realization splashed across her face.

"I didn't see you...or Jake...or Bella get pulled out of the water or even Victoria. I can't see past you two and _your_ pack of mutts." She said disgustedly with the dog. It was understandable that she couldn't see past Will or even that her visions were blurs or headaches were intense due to being so far from him but she wouldn't admit that...so blame it on the dog right?

"Don't get me upset, things will get very ugly" Bella pushed herself between the two and diffused the tension while Will and Cora surveyed the situation, trying to figure if it was best to intervene...or stay where they were.

"Cora, Will...Let's give them some space." Alice said, taking Will's hand much to everyone surprise and leading him out the door.

"Hey you all are coming back right? You aren't leaving again?" The last bit was directed toward Alice who smirked before answering.

"As soon as you put the dog out." Cora followed her brother and Alice down the stairs and back to her car. Was anyone going to diffuse the tension between everyone? Were they just going to let it sit like this? Cora pushed herself up on the hood of the car, sitting criss cross and folding her hands, pressing her index fingers to her lips, thinking of something...anything to say.

"So...You're just going to show up and pretend nothing ever happened?" Cora said, making Alice look at her in surprise.

"I never said that-"

"You never said anything! To either of us! And we're both just supposed to forget you left the two of us here but as soon as little miss thing needs something or Edward goes all 2003 myspace emo on you, then you decide its time to make some changes? What the fuck is going on Alice, honestly?" Cora exploded, down to her wits end. If the day was going to be a shitshow, she was going to end it correctly to start anew tomorrow.

"We...I...I can't tell you Cora. It isn't my place."

"Well then where the fuck is the commander and chief himself? You two think it's funny to play games with people like this? It's sick Alice! I love him. Good God I love him with all the fiber in my being and you two just tore mine and Will's hearts out of our chests. You think that's fair to anyone to be here? Because it isn't." A familiar scent drifted through the air to her and she knew Paul was near and in wolf form. She cursed herself for being so loud knowing he had heard it because as the words left her mouth, her heart strings hurt and pulled for him. A low howl was heard close by and Cora's heart felt worse than it had in a long time. Alice reached into her jacket and pulled out bindings of papers, thrusting them out to her. Cora looked down at them and back up to Alice who pushed them further to her.

"What are-"

"Letters. Letters he wrote every day to you that neither I nor Carlisle would let him send. It killed him that day, it killed _both_ of us that day to tell the two of you we were leaving. Do not judge us until you've heard our reasons Cora." Alice said coldly. Will pulled Alice to him and made her golden eyes stare into his. Alice could have lost her breath right then and there with the way he stared at her with such intensity.

"It is your place to tell me what's going on. Atleast to tell me, this is absolutely mental do you understand that? Edward thinks she's dead, he went to the Volturi to kill himself and they denied his request? So he's going to do it himself? Seriously, no one was going to mention that? And we are going to talk about this situation later am I understood?" He said sternly motioning with his finger between the two of them. Alice's face twisted into that of horror.

"Wait...Edward what?" Will looked to Cora who had an eyebrow raised and both of their stomachs dropped. She didn't know.

"You didn't have the same vision I did?" Alice shook her head as Will laced their hands together and the images that were shown to him an hour ago, danced through both of their eyes. Once they were out of it, if tears could form in her eyes Alice would have cried right then and there.

"We have to get Bella, we have to go stop him now. Before he does something that will actually kill her."

* * *

Will held onto Alice, pulling her to the house to tell Bella but his senses got the better of him turning to see Cora just staring at the pile of letters in front of her, her finger tips running over the handwriting she knew so well.

"You coming Core?" She cleared her throat at his words and shook her head.

"No, no, you two go ahead. I'll get plane tickets for us." Cora said with fake enthusiasm that neither Will nor Alice had time to address in that moment. Will, knowing his sister, dragged Alice along to tell Bella the plan.

Cora pulled the first letter dated a week after they left. She ran her fingers over the wax seal and smiled to herself. Oh Jasper, ever so formal. She was almost scared to open it but she had to know she had to find out why. Her finger pulled at the delicate paper, figuring she had enough time to go over at least one of the notes. Cora let out a deep Uneeded breath as pulled out the folded hand written note and unfolded it.

Cora,

You probably still hate me, and honestly I don't even blame you. I said horrible things to you. I figured if I could make you hate me, then it would make leaving easier. I didn't realize being able to feel emotions, even though I was oceans away, I would still be able to feel you every day. My heart hurt when yours did, mine broke at that exact moment. I never imagined hurting my mate but I did and there's no kind of apology that can fix that. I'm so sorry my love. Carlisle doesn't want me to write and honestly I might just be doing this for myself. Know I feel you. Know that I miss you. Know that I love you. I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me.

All my love

Jasper

Her eyes would have welled up with tears if they could. Cora stared at those words for what seemed like hours that she knew was minutes because Alice, Will and Bella were out of the house as quickly as they went in.

"Did you get the tickets?" Cora's head snapped up and she sniffed looking to Alice.

"Huh?"

"The tickets Cora. Did you get them."

"Oh! Yeah..yeah all taken care of." Cora sniffed one last time and wiped her nose with the end of her knit sweater before sliding off the hood of the car and opening the backdoor for Bella. Jake followed closely behind trying to get past to get to Bella but Cora's eyes flashed white and she pushed him back to the front stairs of the house.

"You've done enough for today." She said as she heard a rustling near the woods and out emerged a shirtless Paul donning his infamous jean shorts. She scoffed in digusted and raised her arms to the heavens in exasperation.

"What is it? Asshole day?!" She yelled, letting out a frustrated growl and climbing into the car on the other side. Jake and Paul both ran up and stuck their bodies between the door, pleading.

"Bella please. Stay here. For Charlie...for me." His eyes were sad and sullen as she looked at him, biting her lip with regret in her voice. Cora looked to Paul who obviously had something to say.

"As much as it's going to kill me to see you go back...after what he did to you...I want you to be happy." He said the last part through gritted teeth and looked to Jacob immediately after.

"What kind of world do we live in where he is the rational one? Does that give you any sort of idea of how absolutely crazy and neurotic you're being?" Cora asked with an eyebrow raised at Jacob who simply ignored her. Paul ran around to the other side of the car and leaned into the open window gap.

"I love you. I will always love you Cora." He said placing a small kiss to her forehead. When he pulled away Cora placed her fingertips to the spot on her head, feeling the warm wetness of what she assumed were tears and her heart fell. She looked up, hoping to say something to him but he had already gone and her chest tightened.

"I have to go Jacob." Jacob sighed deeply almost pulling out of the car.

"Bella, I'm begging you." Cora reached over Bella's body, yanking the door closed and locking it as Bella mouthed 'I'm sorry.' She held her head in her hands and Cora reluctantly rubbed her back in a consoling matter, hoping that they would be able to get to Edward in time or else they'd have a whole 'nother problem to deal with.

* * *

No one bothered packing a bag. Will and Alice stayed laced at the hands for the entire plane ride just in case Edward did anything off course of his original plan. That left a lot of time for Cora to sit in contemplation and read over her letters that were never sent. She kept them in her hands the entire ride to Italy up until they exited the terminal to find a way to get to the city center.

"What are those?" Bella asked, causing Cora to shove them into her crossbody purse and avoid eye contact as her eyes searched over the rental agencies for something fast.

"Nothing." She said before blurring off, leaving Bella in the capable hands of Will and Alice who were lost in their images. Bella latched onto Alice's arm concern consuming her eyes.

"What? What do you two see?" Alice's eyes darted around quickly as did Will's as he squeezed her hand tighter.

"He's there now..."

"He's consulting with the Volturi." Will finished Alice's words for her but both were broken out of their trances at the sound of a high pitched whistle. The three turned around to see Cora standing in a bright yellow Porsche.

"Are you ladies coming or what? We got a life to save and some very pissed off renter to avoid so if you could all, please?" She gestured wildly to the car and the people in front of her gladly obliged, getting in as quickly as they could. Her hand wrapped around the clutch and she smiled widely at Bella who took the front seat next to her.

"Now, this is going to be a little crazy...but it's going to be a lot of fun." She smirked, peeling out with a squeal down and out of the airport terminal gates down to the winding roads that led to the city.

"Cora how did you-"

"I assumed in a situation such as this, you wouldn't be opposed to grand theft auto. Which, might I add, has a lot less killing hookers and a lot more driving around tractors. MOVE!" She answered Alice, weaving in and out of traffic. Will let out a sigh as he leaned forward to get a look out the front window.

"Could have at least let me drive, I'm a lot better than you anywa-" His words were cut short as Alice and he gripped onto one another, another premonition coming to them both. Cora rolled her eyes and threw her head back, gesturing for Bella.

"And this is exactly why I didn't want you driving. Fading in and out all the time, gives me the damn heebee jeebees." She said with a fake shudder as she turned a corner.

"Care to give any information? Like at all?" Bella was on the verge of tears and Cora couldn't blame her. Cora had been going over and over in her head if she was either going to murder Jasper or yell at him or kiss him or maybe all three. Who knows? It was turning out to be a big day where anything could happen.

"He's going to expose himself to the humans at noon when the sun is at it's highest." They said together. Cora turned in her seat momentarily to look at both of them with wide eyes and she shuddered once more.

"Alright now say 'Come play with us.' You fucking freaks." Will smiled, squeezing Alice's hand and raising it to his lips to place a kiss on them. Sparks erupted from his body like they once did whenever he was with her and judging by the look on her face, she felt it too.

* * *

Cora pulled as close to the city center as she could which was right on top of the police that blocked the road for the celebration of expulsion of the vampires from the city, which in all honesty, was too ironic for any of them to avoid and Cora was definitely making a comment about it later.

"How do I know where to go?" Bella asked, her hands on the hood of the car and bouncing in anticipation.

"You're the only one he can't see coming. He'll read my thoughts, Will's, Cora's. He'll think we're all lying. Go to the clock tower!" With that she ran off into the crowd to find Edward and Cora finally let out a sigh of relief as she put the car in reverse and Alice gave her directions to where the Cullen family was. She felt her heart in her throat and Cora tried to come up with a script or anything she could say to Jasper but nothing formed. Will and Alice walked hand in hand, obviously going to solve their dilemmas and problems at a later date. Maybe that's the approach Cora could take? She shook her head to empty it of the thought as she followed the two into the building. Before she could even take a look inside she was enveloped by a pair of arms and she instinctively wrapped her own around the person's back.

"I told them to tell you. I wanted them to tell you." Rosalie pulled back and looked down at her best friend whom she hadn't had contact with in months. Cora gasped and pulled her back into her, giving her a crushing hug once more and a light squeeze when she was done. They pulled apart, holding onto one another by their forearms. Cora punched the upper shoulder of Rosalie who looked at her with surprise and disgust.

"Bitch, what-"

"You know exactly what that was for! Don't ever leave us in the dark again!" Rosalie smiled and locked arms with Cora, leading her to the sitting room where everyone had gathered in grief and with inklings of hope that they had gotten to him in time. Will and Alice passed the two, heading for the door again. Cora and Rose turned back and were met with an answer to the question neither of them had asked yet.

"We're going to help Edward with the Volturi. Don't wait up." Alice said a little too chipper for the current situation they were having but Cora frankly couldn't care less. All she could think about was who was behind those oak doors. Rosalie, almost knowingly, gave Cora a squeeze on her arm before pushing the doors open to reveal a very vintage looking parlor with a grand piano in the corner and fireplaces on both ends of the room. Carlisle sat with his elbows on his knees and his index fingers pressed against his lips as Esme rubbed his back. Emmett sat atop on the back end of one of the couches in the all white room, his feet resting where a normal person would sit. His hands were folded as well and he stared off into the floor as if trying to wrap his head around the whole thing. Across near the window is where Jasper stood, his arms crossed and his jaw locked in that ever military position. His hair was longer, flatter. He had on a henley she had bought him for his birthday and the sleeves were rolled up revealing his scars she so ever delicately placed kisses on before bed. As the doors opened all of their heads snapped in the direction of Rosalie who blocked the small vampire with her body.

"Look who I found outside." Rosalie smiled, stepping aside and revealing the small vampire who had her arms crossed and her mouth agape at everyone in the room. Emmett was the first to blur over and attack her with a hug much like Rose did when she first arrived. Cora stumbled back, her butt ramming into the side table that held what she assumed was an expensive vase. Her arms wrapped around his back and her eyes steadied the vase as to not allow it to fall. Once it was safe, she relaxed, resting her cheek on his chest and feeling him kiss the top of her head.

"I missed you shortie. Me and Rose could have used the entertainment." He said with one last kiss to the top of her head. Esme and Carlisle were next after Emmett had released her, She gave them both a large hug and then an inquiring look.

"Now I know what you're thinking but please allow us to explain." Carlisle started, his voice calming and mellow. Before he could get another word out, the Texan accent she missed so dearly spoke.

"Actually, Carlisle, if you don't mind. I have some things I'd like to speak to Cora about. I have a plethora of apologies to make." She looked at him standing there by the window with his swoon worthy smirk on his lips and as he placed his hands in the front pocket of his jeans and walked over to her, Cora had almost forgotten everything he had said and everything he had did to make her hate him so much. Almost.


	17. Chapter 17- Forgive and Forget

**AUTHOR NOTE: looking for a little more? pinterest MotherofOcs and find a plethora of pins for my characters! happy hunting ;)**

* * *

Carlisle gave Jasper a small smile while guiding his wife out of the room and Emmett looked similar to a collie the way he herded Rosalie out the door right behind the good doctor. As soon as Emmett closed the door with both hands behind him, Rose had her ear pressed against the door. Much to her dismay, Emmett placed both of his hands on her hips, lifting her from the floor and throwing her over his shoulder to give Cora and Jasper some privacy.

"Oh this isn't fair."

"Oh I don't care Rose." He laughed deeply, feeling her wiggle in his grasp.

There it was, the moment that Cora had been waiting to have with Jasper. They were finally alone and she had to come face to face with the thoughts she had been having for months. Turning around and seeing her again did things to Jasper, things he hadn't felt in such a long time. Telling her he didn't love her, telling her that he wasn't her mate, leaving her there alone and being able to feel everything she could feel was slowly killing him. He held out his hand to one of the couches, hoping she would oblige and he would get to sit closer to her to smell that sweet apple spice and fall scent he missed so much. Cora hadn't met his eyes once since she was taken aback by his profile and the way the afternoon sun hit his face, illuminating his eyes. Her eyes stayed glued to the marbled floor and her hands stayed tucked under her arms. Jasper let out a deep sigh, pulling his hands from his pockets and walking across the room to sit on the arm of the couch adjacent to Cora. She glanced up but only for a moment to see where he was going and if she had a breath to lose, she would have right then and there as he looked up at her through his now longer locks.

"Cora." She glanced up at his warm amber eyes and quickly stared back down at the marble.

"Darlin', please look at me." She suddenly felt a calming aura pour over her and she was filled with contentment. Her head snapped up in his direction and back on his face was that smarmy grin.

"You know that's a dirty trick." She wasn't amused anymore with him and she sounded cross. Jasper reached his arms out, his forearms up, exposing the marks strewn about them. He motioned his hands to tell her to come forward. Reluctantly, Cora looked to him and placed her hands in his own. As soon as her skin touched his she felt alive again. The feeling she got when she was with Paul could never compare to this feeling she got being skin to skin with Jasper. He couldn't help himself being this close to her, without thinking, Jasper pulled her into his chest, wrapping his arms around her and tucking her head under his own.

"God I missed you." He whispered into the top of her head placing kiss after kiss on her dark hair. She relaxed into his chest, taking in a deep breath, taking in all of the things about him she loved. His skin on hers, the smell of teakwood and campfire, she wanted him to say something else, anything at all, so she could hear his Texan drawl.

"I missed you too." She whispered before pulling her head up to finally look at him. Cora landed a quick slap to his face, earning her a single laugh from Jasper as he turned his face back to hers.

"But that does not excuse your behavior!" She exclaimed still obviously upset at the feelings that were coming over her. Jasper ran his thumb across his lips and placed his hands on her hips, his fingers playing with the fabric lightly to get under the sweater to rub circles around the tops of her hips. She tried to ignore the feeling, she tried to ignore anything she was feeling at that moment just so she could have a clear head to yell at him.

"Alright, I deserved that. I know it doesn't. After that night...after you took care of me after what I did, I couldn't imagine a reason in the world why I would deserve anyone like you." Cora let out a scoff and let her eyes roll to the back of her head for a moment. Jasper, not appreciating her attitude, squeezed her hips, making the small vampire squirm a bit.

"Im serious Cora. You are one of the most purest, beautiful things on this Earth and I just couldn't and still can't wrap my head around why you would ever want to be with me. So we left. It was what was safe for Bella and I thought you deserved better than a monster." Cora opened her mouth to speak but was silenced by Jasper lifting a finger.

"Ah, I'm not done. I would have never of left you if I would have known how bad it would hurt you."

"How could you not know?! I felt like a part of me had been ripped out." She wanted to cry. Cora wanted to cry so badly in the moment and cursed that she would never be able to. His grip tightened around her and he pulled her closer so their pelvises were on top of one another.

"I know! I know that! Cora, I have felt everything you have felt from the first day I met you. All the way across the ocean I knew how you were feeling. I sat in solitude for weeks because my heart hurt with yours and then again once I felt you're happiness and carefreeness from being with _hi-_ " Cora placed a hand over his mouth to silence him. She watched as he placed light kisses across her fingers and she sighed.

"Please don't talk about him. This isn't about Paul. It's about us." She placed both hands on either side of his face, making him look at her. "It's about how stupid you are for thinking that you're a monster, that you aren't good enough for me, that you have the right to just get up and leave me."

"I never wanted to leave you, angel-"

"But you did. Will and I were wrecked for weeks. Will was wrecked for months." He was silent as her glistening eyes ran over his face, trying to determine what he was feeling.

"I don't know how to ask you to forgive me." He said after a while, placing a kiss to the inside of one of her palms. It was her turn to be silent for a time, mauling over the thoughts in her head. She was thankful Edward was so far away as to not pry them from her.

"Jasper Whitlock Hale, you are the most infuriating man I have ever met in my lifetime." His face fell and his eyes darted to the floor at her words.

"But, despite how bad being away from you felt for those few months isn't comparable to the feeling I have when I'm with you or how bad it would hurt to not forgive you." His eyes lit up at her words and a wide smile came across his face.

"You don't mean it." She sighed, rolling her eyes and kissing him with such force they both fell backwards off the arm and onto the couch cushions. Once they pulled apart, she rested her forehead on his own, grinning wildly.

"Unfortunately you're stuck with me for the rest of eternity Major." She teased, biting at her lip. That sexy smirk she missed so much came back as he responded, pushing some of her hair behind her ear.

"I think I can deal with that." He said grabbing her chin to pull her in for another kiss. Pulling away, he left Cora with a blissful smile on her face. She grinned, smacking his chest lightly and pointing at him with a stern eye.

"But you pull this kind of shit ever again, I will tear you apart myself. Understood?" She asked, grabbing his jaw with one hand as he nodded.

"Yes ma'am." He grinned as she pulled him in for another series of kisses. Cora felt a weigh smash on her back, her face being pushed into Jasper's.

"I'm so glad you two made up!" Cora lifted her head her eyes flashing momentarily as she glanced behind her at the blonde who was obviously eavesdropping. Cora lightly put her back on her feet, a change from her normally aggressive flinging. Rose brushed herself off as Cora pushed herself off of Jasper and put herself back on her feet.

"I appreciate the lack of throwing." Rosalie smiled at the frowning Cora who looked to Emmett. He raised his hands in defense and shook his head.

"I tried to hold her back, don't look at me." Cora put her tongue in her cheek and nodded, not believing a word out of the man's mouth.

"What do we do now?" Cora asked, her mind now with thoughts of Will and Alice. Jasper came up behind his small love and wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her close as Rose turned to Carlisle and Esme who had returned.

"We wait." Said the good doctor, his expression sad.

* * *

Will cringed at the sound of the tourists being slain behind closed doors and his grip on Alice tightened. Alice took note, leaning into the man next to her for comfort.

"I hate this fucking place." He muttered as he followed Edward and Bella into the grand room where he knew the Volturi sat. He had been in this room only once before with Cora, Daniel, and Carina shortly after he was changed. Aro had found out about Will's gift and in turn found out about Cora. Aro told Daniel to turn more, much to his dismay, in order to create more vampires that had special abilities. He offered to Cora and Will to join them, become a member of the Volturi and the pair had refused, claiming to want to aid Daniel in the process of making more vampires...which wasn't completely false as Sebastien and Kiera followed shortly after.

"Don't worry." Alice whispered with a wink.

"I'll protect you." She always had a way of making Will feel better. He knew they had to talk about what happened and where to go from here but he didn't want to think about anything right now except being with her.

"What a happy surprise!" Aro boomed, clapping his hands together.

"Bella is alive and well after all. And you've brought along a friend! William Spencer, change your mind?" Will's grip on Alice tightened and he shook his head, making Aro frown.

"Pity." He said, attaching himself to Edward. Bella looked to Will and Alice for some sort of guidance but finding none from them.

"How can you all stand to be so close to her? She's...mouthwatering." Will's jaw clenched at his words. Hearing him speak about Bella like a meal made his blood boil. Edward explained Aro's power to Bella as he looked into Edward's thoughts. He turned to Bella and reached out for her hand.

"May I?" Warning looks were given between the three vampires in the room but Bella reluctantly reached out, allowing Aro to hold her hand. Will watched as his red eyes searched and searched, finding nothing.

"Curious. I see...I see nothing. I wonder..." He turned to Jane and Will felt Alice hold him tighter.

"If she's immune to all of our powers. Jane?" Will looked to Edward immediately who protested and rushed to the small vampire across the room who stared at Edward, making him fall to his knees immediately in pain. Bella protested and was held back by Alec. Will went with Alice who rushed to Edward's side. Jane stopped only when Aro said to, seeing how much it hurt Bella. Will readied himself to take out Alec if need be to get to Bella instead of Edward who was being held by Alice. Jane looked to Bella, her eyes fixated but doing nothing to the human.

"She knows too much." Aro said, looking to Felix who nodded. Will rushed to the vampire, his hand on his throat as he slammed the man into the wall. He turned in time to see Edward slammed on his back and Alice, in a choke hold. He staggered for a moment in shock but it was enough time for Felix to catch him off guard and throw him into one of the many pillars.

"Stop! Stop! He's going to change me." Bella protested, making all of the vampires in the room look to her.

"It's true! I've seen it." Alice protested, making the man behind her release her as she walked to Will.

"We've seen it." Aro looked to Felix who released William to join Alice. Will laced his hand with her own and held out their hands to Aro who placed his own on top of theirs. Through their eyes he saw Bella running through the forest, probably near their home, glistening in the sun along with Edward who wasn't far behind. Aro released the two and smiled widely.

"Curious. Apart, you two show the future but together...transported to the future, as if I'm living it. Curious." Aro turned to Edward who had finally made it to his feet.

"You all will be released, but Bella must be turned...and soon." Aro said. Will wasn't paying attention, he was set on ushering everyone out and getting back to his family. He was so sick of being in this room with these people, he didn't even care how rude he was being as they all left. Alice attached herself to his hip as he guided her out and back to where the rest of the family was staying.

"Let's go home." Will whispered, kissing the top of Alice's head as they hurried out of the Volturi's lair.

* * *

Cora was nervous when they finally hit home. She could feel Paul all around her once they crossed from La Push back to Forks and then he drifted away as they got further away from the treaty line. She was somewhat relieved when she felt his sadness drift away from her the closer they got to the Cullen house. Once she stepped out into the Washington night air, she took a deep breath that she didn't need. She melted into the strong chest that pressed against her back. Cora leaned her head back, resting on the shoulder behind her and smiled as a pair of lips pressed themselves to her head.

"Happy?"

"Absolutely." She confirmed, walking with Jasper into the glass house to the den where the rest of the family was congregating. Kiera attacked her sister with a hug as she stepped in the doorway, shocking the small vampire.

"I missed you like crazy!" She said, squeezing her sister who hugged her back.

"Speak for yourself. I was enjoying the quiet." Cora's eyes flashed and she pushed Sebastian back a bit, roughly, making him laugh and roll his eyes.

"I'm kidding, Core." He said, pulling his sister into a hug for a moment and releasing so Carina could hold her daughter. Will hugged Sebastian and Kiera at the same time, bringing the two into his arms.

"It's good to be home." Seb patted Will on the back and headed for the couch.

"It's good to have you home." Daniel said, hugging his son before placing a kiss to Cora's head and heading to the den with the rest of the family. Cora sat on the arm of the couch next to Jasper only to be pulled down to his lap, making her giggle and wrap her arms around his neck. She glanced across the room, seeing Will and Alice in a similar position in the arm chair. Cora looked to Bella who cleared her throat to address the room.

"You all know what I want...and I know how much I'm asking for. The only way I can think of it to be fair is to just have you vote."

"Bella you-" Edward interrupted.

"Shut up." Bella said, running a hand through her hair and looking to Alice.

"Alice?" The pixie sprung from Will's lap over to the brunette and wrapped her arms around her.

"I already consider you my sister. Yes." Will frowned and shrugged his shoulders.

"Yeah, I'm in. Could be fun." Cora rolled her eyes at her brother and turned to look at Bella.

"I wouldn't have chosen this life for myself, but I'm glad I have it. Yes." She said, looking to Jasper who smiled at his little love before turning to Bella himself.

"Yes. It would be nice to not want to kill you all the time." Cora smacked his chest at his joke and shook her head.

"I'm sorry," The heads in the room turned towards Kiera who looked at her feet.

"We live in fear every day, we live in constant pressure and anxiety that we're found out or possibly killed. No." Sebastian nodded, kissing the top of Kiera's hand.

"I'm with Kiera. Sorry, Bells." She nodded, respecting their decisions. It was 4-2 in favor.

"No, I wouldn't have chosen this for myself. No." Rose said, leaning in the doorway near Emmett. 4-3.

"Hell yeah!" Emmett said, 5-3. Daniel cleared his throat and smiled sadly at Bella.

"We love you, Bella. But this...we've never turned anyone of our family members without cause. We can't approve." He said, looking up to his wife who sat on the back of the chair behind him. Carina nodded, giving her husband's shoulder a squeeze. 5-5. Esme smiled at Bella.

"Of course. We think of you as family. Yes." 6-5. Edward looked to his family and the Spencers, his face pained.

"Why are you doing this to me? You know what this means."

"I refuse to lose my son. You choose to not live without her. I'm sorry." Carlisle said, giving Bella his approval. Bella was beaming with the approval of everyone, the voting giving her what she wanted. Cora watched as the room tensed and she felt as if there would be more to come from this, she just didn't know what.

* * *

"You're sure?" Carina asked, brushing her daughter's hair back behind her ears and watching the small woman nod. Carina sighed and kissed the top of her head.

"I'm sure. I'd rather not deal with Paul right now. When I'm here, he can't cross the treaty line. I'll be fine." She said, nodding in the direction of where Will taught Alice how to play the piano.

"Will's staying, why don't you go bother him?" She teased, earning a sour look from her mother.

"Because I want to make sure you're safe." Cora felt two strong arms around her midsection and she smiled as blond hair brushed her shoulders.

"I'll be safe. I have a strong Texas tiger to protect me." She teased, turning to look at the male Hale that graced her with his presence. Carina looked to Jasper, pointedly.

"Watch over her this time. I mean it. No funny business." He nodded, kissing Cora's cheek.

"Yes ma'am." Cora shivered at the sound of his melodic voice, that accent she missed so much. Cora scoffed and turned, squirming out of Jasper's grasp and heading up the stairs to his room to relax for a bit.

"What?" He asked incredulously.

"Do you have to be so charming all the time?" She laughed out, going through his drawers to find something comfortable to wear.

"You think I'm charming?" He asked, fishing for more compliments. Cora rolled her eyes and headed for the bathroom to change, locking the door behind her. She didn't have time for him to be cute, she was still trying to be angry with him. The problem was, his accent and demeanor were all too damn enticing.

 **AUTHOR NOTE: BOOM! Ya'll thought I had died huh? Well I didn't Im just trash so joke's on you. Anyway! Here you are my lovelies, let's try to get through Eclipse and then maybe I'll get a little weird and write through BD? WHO KNOWS!**


	18. Chapter 18- Eclipse of the Heart

She knew as the sunlight peeked through the windows that she would have to face reality sooner rather than later. Cora spent the entire night cuddled up with Jasper. She traced the scars on his arms while he lightly traced shapes on her shoulder in silence. They were content in the silent aura around them, allowing the sounds of James Bay drown out the room with a soft melody. She hadn't felt this relaxed in months. She missed his touch, his smell, everything about him. She groaned, getting up from her comfortable position on Jasper's chest only to be pulled back down by her cowboy.

"Where do you think you're going?" He mumbled into her hair, planting a series of kisses on her temple. Cora smiled, wriggling out of his grasp and rushing herself to the door to get her shoes.

"You're going to leave my house looking like that?" He chuckled, leaning back on his forearms to look at Cora. She was mesmerized for a second by the messy blonde hair and the scarred, chiseled, bare upper body that glistened in the incoming light. Cora looked down at her own mess and laughed at herself in Jasper's shirt and a pair of vans. She walked over to Jasper and placed a small kiss on his lips.

"It's not like anyone is going to see me. I need to head home and change, shower, eat." She said, running a hand through his messy blonde hair. Jasper snagged her arm, placing a kiss to the inside of her wrist.

"You can do all of that here." She rolled her eyes and tugged on the hair she ran her hand through, exposing his neck a little more. She placed one long kiss there and gave him a wink before heading out, leaving the Texan wanting.

As soon as she hit the property line, she felt him. She wished she hadn't but Cora knew she had to dive in.

"You're back." Cora turned to face the wood that surrounded her home. She ran a hand through her hair and sighed, trying to avoid eye contact with the shirtless man in front of her. She knew as soon as she looked into those brown eyes, she'd be in trouble all over again.

"Yeah..I got back yesterday. A lot of shit has happened since-"

"You left." Cora looked up, gold meeting brown for a second as she nodded, slowly walking towards him, feeling his heat radiating towards her with every step.

"I did leave. I left and I know that wasn't fair to you, I know that. But...I love him, Paul." She said, looking up and truly seeing his face. He was hurt and frankly, he looked like shit.

"And me?" He asked, wetting his lips and becoming restless.

"Of course I love you...I can't..not love you, Paul. I just..I need you to support me right now." She said, biting her lip and looking at him with apologetic eyes. Paul ran a hand through his dark hair and nodded reluctantly.

"I..I don't have to like it...I get that. I'll be whatever you want me to be, angel. I've already told you that." He reached out, grabbing her hand with his and squeezed it.

"I know.." she trailed off.

"I love you, Cora. Just...for this to even be bearable for me, don't be a stranger. Hang out, huh?" Cora scoffed and smiled at Paul for a moment at his words.

"I don't mean dates. We can be friends. It's part of the imprint deal." Cora nodded and rushed to him, wrapping her arms around the wolf in a hug. Paul was shocked but wrapped his own arms around the small vampire, burying his face in her neck to take in her scent. Cora placed a kiss to his cheek before releasing him.

"I promise. We will hang out more." She said, excited at how easy it was to transition this. Paul held out his pinky and Cora rolled her eyes, wrapping her pale finger around his copper one and kissing her fist to seal the promise.

"Now if you don't mind, I have to get ready. I'll see you around." Cora said with a smile and a wave, turning back to see Paul running into the woods again.

* * *

Cora had managed her way through a millionth junior year and another graduation was right around the corner. She hadn't seen Paul much except for a few bonfires here and there and a movie or two. Their relationship was turning into something different from before and she had no idea where it was going to end up. It was somewhat of a relief but it also made her anxious. She must have been projecting that out to others because before she knew it, Jasper was pulling her out of her thoughts as they walked down the hall for lunch.

"Stop that." Jas said, smacking her nail away from her mouth and bringing her hand to his lips.

"You're nervous." He said as they walked hand in hand behind Bella and Edward to the table for lunch, Will and Alice following closely.

"I am not." She muttered as they sat down, hearing the back end of the graduation conversation. Cora felt a wave of calm rush over her and she shoved Jasper who laughed, wrapping an arm around Cora to pull her closer.

"This graduation speech is going to be epic." Bella said just as Seb appeared with Cora under his arm.

"Not as epic as this party, right Alice?" He asked, high fiving Will in the process.

"Really Alice? Another party?" Edward asked, rolling his eyes and thinking back to the last party that was held at the Cullen's house.

"It'll be fun!" Alice said, elbowing her brother. Jasper leaned over, patting Edward on the leg.

"Yeah, it's not every day you graduate high school." Cora placed her hand over her mouth and coughed, stifling a laugh.

"Wait, a party? At your house?" Angela asked, looking from Cullen to Spencer to Cullen.

"I've...never seen your house." Jessica added, avoiding eye contact with Will. After their awkward date, Cora couldn't blame her. Alice sat back with Will, her eyes glazing over. Cora imagined Will's doing the same but due to his insistence of having his sunglasses on at all times, he looked to be relaxing at the table with everyone else.

After class, Bella cornered everyone in the parking lot.

"What did you see?" Will and Alice avoided eye contact, pretending not to hear her as they got into Will's truck to drive back. Cora turned to the jeep only to be pulled back by Bella.

"Cora, come on." Cora stuttered then looked to Jasper and Rose who were getting into the car, not saying a word. They were a lot better at this than she was. Cora ignored her, getting into the back of the Jeep with Jasper and tried to not look back as Emmett peeled out of the parking lot, following Closely behind Kiera and Sebastian who were in front. The truth is, she had no idea what Will and Alice saw, all she knew is it wasn't good and it was urgent to get back to the house. She had already called Daniel and Carina to let them know what was going on. They said they would meet everyone back at the house. Carlisle thought it best to convene where Bella wouldn't end up being later so obviously, he knew what the two vampires had seen in their vision. Jasper held onto Cora's hand tightly and looked at her with kind eyes.

"We'll know soon enough. There's no need to worry, angel." He said, making Cora feel a bit better as Emmett tore down the winding road that led to the Spencer's large home. Carina and Daniel's cars were in the driveway already and Cora felt Carlisle and Esme weren't too far behind.

"What did you see?" Daniel asked, ushering his son and Alice to the couch in the den. Cora took note of the television that was on. Carina was looking intently at the news story on Riley Biers who had just disappeared a little over a month ago. She gave her eldest daughter a knowing look and Cora took her place among the others.

"She's back." Alice said, darting her eyes around at the vampires that surrounded her. Will grabbed her hand and gave it a light squeeze, continuing for her.

"The red head. Victoria. She's in the area..Forks, at least."

"That's not all. We saw him, too." Alice added, pointing to the picture of the missing boy that flashed across the screen again. Carina pressed the remote to her lips and analyzed the photo before turning to the group.

"Do you think she has something to do with all these disappearances?" Daniel crossed his arms and looked to his wife

"There's no way to be sure." He said, glancing at Carlisle for more guidance.

"We have to be careful though. If the Volturi catch any word of this, they'll take care of it themselves." Carlisle said, reaching for his wife's hand. Cora felt Jasper's arm around her tighten, pulling her closer.

"Well, let's go get this bitch." Cora said, looking around at all the pensive faces. Emmett broke out into a smile and crossed his arms over his broad chest, nodding in Cora's direction.

"I'm with shortie. We have to protect-"

"I swear if the next word out of your mouth is Bella, I will vomit." Rose interrupted, grumbling. Emmett rolled his eyes at his blonde beauty before looking for confirmation from everyone else.

"We got her tickets to see her mother this weekend. Edward will go with her and we can settle this once and for all before anyone else gets involved." Esme added, her husband nodding down at her before Carlisle looked to Cora. She felt uncomfortable knowing he was referring to the pack. She didn't really have a say in anything they did, not after she left to find Jas.

"No one is going to get involved. We handle our own shit." Bastian said, making Kiera hit him lightly. Bastian, ever the badass.

"Should I tell the pack?" Cora asked, breaking the silence in the room. Carlisle shook his head, as did Daniel.

"We don't need anyone worrying about this. Let's keep it under wraps for now." Daniel nodded in agreement.

"For now, let's all just keep our head clear and prepare for tomorrow." He said, heading into the kitchen to speak with his wife, Carlisle, and Esme, leaving the younger vampires to their devices.

"Something tells me this is going to involve a lot of cardio." Will said reluctantly, trying to lighten the mood. Alice smiled up at him and pecked him on the cheek.

"Better hit the treadmill then."

* * *

The families were spread about the forest, their backs to one another in case they had to dart in any direction. When Victoria was there, they'd be ready. Will and Alice stood in front of the pack, hands together, their eyes glossy, looking for visions of the imminent future.

"Are you sure this is where you saw her?" Sebastian asked, sick of waiting around and turning his head at every animal that ran through the woods. Cora agreed with him, she wasn't a fan of the red head but this waiting made her anxious and jumpy.

"Yes. She's almost here.." Alice trailed off and Cora stabled her footing, readying herself to run whichever direction she needed to in order to catch the woman.

"On your left!" Will yelled and Cora darted forward, Jasper right on her tail as she followed the sound and scent of the vampire

"Shit she's fast!" Sebastian said, taking her speed over and reaching out to grab the redhead with Emmett not too far behind to do the same. As soon as their skin made contact, Victoria whipped the men over her shoulder, making them roll to the ground. Cora leapt over the two men, catching up with Rose who was close on Victoria's tail. As they got closer Cora dug her heels into the ground and whipped her arm out to stop Rose from following Victoria over the river that drew the treaty line.

"She's in their territory now." Daniel said, holding off his sons who were ready to pounce. Realization struck Cora and she leapt over the line herself to chase the woman, ignoring the calls from her family and remembering what Paul had told her long ago.

"She'll get away!" Carina yelled, keeping up with Cora and Victoria with Jasper at her side, keeping his eye on his love. Jasper watched as three huge wolves emerged from the wood, chasing after the two vampires on their land.

"No she won't!" He called, keeping his eyes on Cora to make sure she was safe. He knew Paul wouldn't do anything to hurt her but he couldn't speak for the rest of the pack. The grey one nipped at Victoria's heels, missing by a centimeter as she leapt to the other side of the water. Cora followed close behind, jumping after her and running with all her might down after the woman. She was so close she could almost taste it. Jasper ran past her, leaping in the air to catch the woman mid flight but missed, rolling into a tree. He groaned out and Cora dug her heels into the dirt to stop and check on him.

"Are you alright?" She asked, taking his face in her hands for a moment and inspecting his limbs. He nodded, kissing the inside of her palm before nodding in the direction of the others. She could see that Emmett almost had her as she jumped the treaty line once more but before she could protest, Rose did for her.

"Emmett, no!" She called as Emmett jumped after the woman only to be caught in the jaws of Paul mid-landing. Cora stumbled on the edge of the rock but was stabilized by Jasper's strong arm around her waist to hold her up and out of harm's way. She looked to Paul who was growling at the now wet and seething Emmett, hoping his brown eyes locked with hers but they never did. He growled at Emmett for a moment more before running into the woods back after Victoria. Cora cursed herself for not being faster for not being stronger and for not utilizing her powers the way she should have.

* * *

"You can't possibly still be mauling over this weekend. Come on Cor!" Rose yelled at her as they got out of the mercedes.

"I could have caught her, Rose. I could ha-" She stopped short when she smelled the air. She took a deep breath and groaned, pinching the bridge of her nose as they approached the stairs where two men stood, both unamused. Jasper walked as fast as humanly possible over to Cora, careful to not draw anymore attention but with the two giants in front of him, that was a bit impossible. Cora slinked out of his grasp, making him frown as she stalked to Paul, her arms crossed over her chest.

"What are you two doing here?!" She asked, watching as Jacob passed her to get to Bella.

"Alright, fuck me, I guess." She muttered looking to Paul. He had a frown on his face and Cora couldn't help but take note of the way his arms looked in the tight black shirt he was wearing.

"I just want to warn you. Coming onto our land-"

"Im allowed to be on La Push land, Paul!" She said incredulously, feeling the Cullens' and the Spencers' eyes on her.

"I'm not-" She held up a finger to him to silence him for a moment and turned to the audience behind her.

"Get out of here. I got this." She almost barked, nodding her head in the direction of the school. Everyone obliged, even Kiera and Rose who shot dirty looks towards the dog. Jasper, however, stood his ground.

"Jas, go. I'm a big girl." Cora said, reaching out for his hand and giving it a squeeze. As soon as she did, her pulled her into him forcefully, holding her hands to his chest with his own. Jasper glanced at Paul, smirking before he bent down and placed a long kiss to Cora's mouth before leaving up the stairs. Cora turned back, seeing Paul stare daggers at Jasper as he left, never taking his eyes off of him until he disappeared behind the door.

"If the Cullens, especially that one, ever come on our land again, I won't be so cordial next time." Cora scoffed and raised her eyebrows at Paul.

"Oooh, look at you with the big words. Leave it be, please? You promised you'd support me."

"Support you, yeah. Not let random vampires run loose around my people." Paul yelled, keeping his voice low at the word vampires.

"You are so fucking infuriating, do you know that?!" She screamed, seeing out of the corner of her eye that Bella was getting on the back of Jacob's motorcycle. She groaned and turned to Edward, not having to say a word as he read her thoughts and she just nodded. He wanted someone there to watch over her. Who better than the disgraced vampire imprint, right?

"Yeah, but you love it." Paul smirked, his flirty demeanor coming back as he hooked a finger in Cora's belt loops to pull her closer. She rolled her eyes and batted at his firm chest, shoving him off.

"Shut up. We're friends, remember?" Paul shrugged, swinging his leg over the bike and waiting for the sleepless beauty to latch onto him.

"Friends can make out."

"Paul!" She yelled, punching his shoulder as he turned the bike over.

"What? I can't hear you!" He chuckled before riding down back to no place other than Emily's house. Cora would be lying if she said she didn't miss Paul. He felt so much like home, so safe and natural. If she were still human, she had no doubt in her mind that her and Paul would be together. Jacob and Bella had reached the house before them, still enthralled in the argument or discussion, Cora didn't know which, that they were having when they all left. As they walked up to the house, Paul threw his arm over Cora's shoulders, making her frown at him.

"What? I'm being friendly."

"Yeah. Right." She said sarcastically as yips and yelps were heard. The pack ran off the porch and jumped down to the yard to greet everyone and Cora smiled at it. As much as she hated the smell of wet dog, she loved the aura that the house and the boys gave off.

"Look who's back! What's up Bella!" Embry said, his eyes widening at the sight of Cora under Paul's arm.

"Cora! Sick, now we can get a break from both of their obsessive inner monologues." He teased, looking between Jacob and Paul.

"I wish Cora would call!" Quil mocked

"I wish Bella wouldn't call!" mocked Embry

"Maybe I should call Cora!" Jared teased, making Cora look at Paul with an amused expression.

"Maybe I should call Bella and hang up!" Embry joked once more, high fiving Quil.

"Alright, shut it. All of you." Paul threatened, his eyes darting to the front door as a dark skinned woman came out of the house. Jacob cleared his throat and looked to Bella and Cora.

"Guys, this is Leah Clearwater...Harry's daughter. Leah, this is Bella and Cora." Cora felt out of place, not really sure on whether to offer her condolences.

"Hey, I'm sorry about your dad." Bella offered, making Cora breathe sweet release until she noticed Leah's hard gaze still on her.

"If you're both here to torture them some more, feel free to leave." she said before jogging off.

"Cora!" She turned to see Emily's smiling face running towards her, arms open wide for a hug.

"Hey! How are you?!" Cora asked, squeezing the small woman who laughed.

"Better now that you're here. Everyone behaves better when you show up." She teased, looking around at all of the sheepish faces.

"What's the status on.." Cora trailed off, looking to Sam.

"We're good. She won't be getting through our line any time soon." Cora smiled at him and looked to Paul who nodded in the direction of the path that led to the beach. She walked with him, shoving her hands into her jacket pockets as they went, looking around the trees that surrounded Emily's house.

"So when did Leah join?" She asked, breaking the silence.

"About when Harry died. Her brother Seth phased too. I think he's about 15? Youngest we've ever had."

"Shit..." She swore, glancing up at Paul who sensed her guilt. He brushed her off, pulling her hand from her pocket to lace it with his own.

"Sam keeps him at school, keeps him studying. If only we could make Leah stay home.." He muttered with a scoff. Cora chuckled, tucking her hair behind her ear.

"Yeah, she's...less than pleasant." She joked, making Paul laugh and flash his pearly whites. He had such an amazing smile.

"Yeah, it's even less pleasant to endure the love triangle garbage." He said just as they reached the shoreline. Cora pulled off her shoes and handed them to Paul's already open hand to hold for her as their toes squished into the clay like sand.

"What?" Cora asked, hoping he wasn't talking in regards to their current situation.

"Leah and Sam used to date. Pretty serious for a while actually, highschool sweethearts. He changed and imprinted on Emily. He hates himself for hurting Leah. But...Emily was the one." He said, his hand finding hers again as they strolled down the beach together.

"I guess you really can't...choose who you love. Especially with all the magic supernatural whatever." Cora said, not sure on how to proceed with her second ever imprint conversation.

"It's...hard. I get what he's going through so he's been helpful through..well all this, really. You'd do anything for her...be anything for her..." He trailed off, looking out to the water in order to avoid her golden eyes.

"Yeah..I know...It's just-"

"Cora!" She whipped her head around to see Bella trudging her way down the beach toward them. Paul cursed under his breath and released Cora's hand to rub the back of his neck in frustration.

"What? What's wrong?" Cora asked, rushing over to Bella after snagging her shoes from Paul.

"Jake and I got into it. It's a long- Can you just take me home?" She asked, frazzled. Cora looked back to Paul who had his lips pressed together and his hands shoved in his pockets.

"Hold on." She said, rushing back to Paul and placing both of her palms on his stomach.

"Look, I wouldn't go if it wasn-" He gestured over to Bella and shook his head.

"No, go. You should go. I'll check in with you later." He said, bending down and pecking the vampire on the cheek before waving at Bella to say goodbye. She watched him trudge down the beach for a moment, hoping he would look back, but he never did. She sighed and pulled her shoes back on before crouching in front of Bella.

"This is going to be just as weird for me as it is for you. Hop on." She said reluctantly, waiting for the human to jump on her back.


	19. Chapter 19- First Time

Cora dropped off Bella and after managing to have her promise to never mention the ride there ever again, she sped off to the Cullen's home to smooth things over with Jasper. She knew he wouldn't be happy that she was gone all day at La Push with Paul but he had to understand. Plus, he acted like a possessive dick this morning and regardless of whether Cora liked it or not, it wasn't appropriate to rub in Paul's face.

"Hey, beautiful!" Rose chimed, not lifting her head from the magazine in her hands. Kiera glanced up at her sister and gave her a small smile before tossing a Cosmo her way. Cora caught it flawlessly then tossed it on the adjacent couch where Alice braided Keira's hair.

"Hey, have you seen Jasper?" she asked, curious as to why he didn't make himself known yet. Rose tossed her head in the direction of the garage.

"He and Emmett are tinkering away in there I think. Will and Bas went off to hunt but I think Jasper was waiting for you to eat." Well, that was good at least. He wasn't mad enough to not wait for her to get something to eat. Cora rounded the back of the couch where Rosalie sat and kissed the top of her head in thanks before heading to the garage door. Much to her surprise, when she opened the door, outpoured loud alternative music, music she didn't know Jasper was even into.

 _Here we go again_

 _I kinda wanna be more than friends_

 _so take it easy on me_

 _I'm afraid you're never satisfied._

 _Here we go again_

 _We're sick like animals we play pretend_

 _You're a cannibal and I'm afraid I won't get out alive_

She watched as he looked intently under the hood of the truck he was working on, mouthing the words but never saying a word. His hair was pulled back into a bun, a style she had never seen before and it gave her butterflies. She watched from the door as he lifted the bottom of his shirt, exposing his stomach to wipe the grime that had made its way onto his forehead. She glanced at the big bear of a man who rolled out from under the red car next to the truck. Emmett broke out into a big smile and jumped to his feet.

"Hey, bombshell!" He said with a wink, getting Jasper to look up from his work. She knew he knew she was there. She could tell when he was five miles away from his scent let alone if he was in the room. Sneaking up on him was next to impossible.

"Hey stud, give us a sec?" She asked, batting her eyelashes at the large vampire who tossed a dirty rag at her, which she caught.

"Sure, I need to clean up anyway." He added, smacking Jasper's chest lightly before heading towards the door.

"Hi." She sighed out, leaning up against the workbench across from him.

"Hi." He smirked, wiping his hands off on the rag he held in his hands and tossing it aside before resting his palms on the hood of the car behind him.

"I should have said som-"

"Shh, don't apologize." He said, shaking his head and silencing the brunette. Jasper reached out for her, pulling her crossed arms apart and wrapping them around his neck so he could comfortably rest his somewhat dirty palms on her hips. He smiled down at the little vampire, brushing her hair out of her face with his fingers.

"I trust you. I don't need to trust Paul, though it would help." He laughed out, making Cora smile. She pushed herself to her toes and placed a soft kiss on his lips and felt him smile as she did so.

"I know. I love you, you know that right?" She asked, making him nod and pull her pelvis against his own.

"Yes, Cora. I know."

"Do you also know I love what you've done with your hair? You should wear it up more often." She smiled, pulling at the bun on the back of his head.

"Oh really?" He laughed out, amused. She nodded, biting her lip.

"Wel-" He was stopped mid-sentence by the smell of Edward and Bella entering the house. Cora scoffed and pulled his chin back to her to get his full attention.

"Jas-"

"No, Bella's...feelings..." He said, trying to deduce what was going on. He grabbed Cora's hand and dragged her back into the living room where it seemed the entire family was congregating. It had become a habit and Cora wasn't fond of it...not one bit. By the looks of Rose, she wasn't too happy either.

"What's wrong?" Will asked as he hit the landing in the kitchen followed by Bastian who was wiping his mouth.

"Someone made a stop at Bella's house," Edward said, giving the room a very sullen, disturbed look.

"Like...Victoria?" Kiera asked, holding onto Sebastian. Edward shook his head and looked to Jasper and Emmett.

"I brought her here as soon as I could. I couldn't track the scent." Will and Sebastian gave one another a look then looked to the Cullen boys across the room who had the same look on their faces. Jasper pressed a kiss to Cora's forehead before blurring up the stairs to clean up and change then head out with the boys to track the scent. They'd cover more ground together.

"Was there anything different about the scent? Was it just someone passing through?" Kiera asked as Cora joined Rose near the couch.

"No, it was different," Edward said, not giving much information to help.

"A nomad wouldn't have left Bella's father alive," Rose said, looking at the floor.

"Let alone Bella," Cora added, looking to the door as the men arrived back faster than they had left.

"The scent disappeared about 5 miles south of Bella's house," Will said, rounding the back of the couch and placing his hands on Alice's shoulders before kissing the top of her head.

"We searched for something, anything like it around. Nothing." Jasper added. Cora noticed he had let his hair back down and she was happy. He looked more like him now.

"Someone has to be orchestrating this." Daniel said as he and Carina landed on the ledge near the kitchen. Carlisle nodded in agreement.

"Victoria?" He offered as an option but Carina shook her head.

"No, we scoured for that scent after she landed near the property. It wasn't her and it wasn't anywhere near La Push." She said.

"Plus, Will and I would have seen her decide." Alice added, placing her hand over the top of Will's that rested on her shoulder. Cora placed her hand on Jasper's thigh as he came to sit next to her on the arm of the couch.

"Has to be the Volturi," Edward said, his eyes drained and his expression depressing to say the least.

"No, we would have seen that. I've been tapped into Aro." Will added, shaking his head.

"So we keep looking." Emmett said, ready to be done with this as much as the rest of them.

"We have to find them eventually," Sebastian added, leaning up against the doorframe.

"We also need to take shifts guarding Bella at her house." Carlisle added making Rose and Cora snap their heads in his direction.

"Another protection detail?" She asked, not believing what her father was saying.

"Rosalie." He scolded.

"No, no she's right. You can't protect me, watch my dad, search for the intruder-"

"And Victoria." Cora added, giving Rose a supportive glance.

"Yeah... and keep yourselves fed," Bella added, staring at her feet.

"I'm not going to leave you defenseless," Edward said, his demeanor changing to a protective stance.

"I'm not going to let you starve. And I wouldn't be unprotected... I have...Jake...and the pack." Edward didn't like that answer at all. It didn't take a mind reader to figure that out. Cora stood up, trying to diffuse the tension in the room.

"Hey, it's like a BOGO. I can cross the treaty line and keep an eye on her while she's with wolf boy. Win-win." She said, calming Edward but feeling Jasper become tense.

"When will you feed then Cora?" Daniel asked, concerned for his daughter's safety.

"I'll feel when the wolves are on the clock at night. I'll only be with her when needed during the day and when Edward feels necessary." Bella got up and latched herself to Cora who reluctantly wrapped her arms around the human.

"Cora you're a saint. Thank you, thank you so much." She mumbled into the small vampire's hair. Cora pat Bella's back a few times, indicating it was time for her to release.

"Don't thank me, princess." She said, glancing back at a sour Jasper. They would definitely be having a talk about this later that night and she was most definitely not looking forward to it.

"When do we start?" Kiera asked, looking to Daniel for confirmation.

"No better time like the present. I'll do first watch." Cora offered, hoping to get out of the impending conversation with Jasper.

"I'll go too." said the Texan behind her. Cora muttered some swears under her breath and looked to Edward who gave her an apologetic look. Cora did her best to avoid the conversation for as long as possible, even taking it as far as leaving before Jasper did to patrol the house. It was nice to have the alone time and just the quiet to herself for the moment when she got there. Cora rarely just sat to enjoy nature let alone quiet.

"Should I be worried?" Cora turned to the opening in the forest to see her cowboy, clad in black. She shook her head and walked to him slowly, staring at her feet the whole way until she was toe to toe with him.

"I don't think so." She said, looking up at him to see a very serious face. He nodded, looking off towards the tree line across the yard for a moment, carefully choosing his next words.

"If you want to hang out more on the reservation...I wouldn't be..upset." He finally got out

"It isn't that. I don't need to hang out on the reservation, I just feel like I-"

"Should be there." he finished for her. Cora nodded with a sigh.

"And I don't know if it's the imprint or if it-"

"Either way...it would be selfish of me to ask you to stay. If I were Paul, I couldn't imagine not seeing you ever again. But then again, I'm not Paul. I'm me." He chuckled and Cora rolled her eyes, wrapping her arms around his neck to pull him close.

"I want to be with you Jasper. I don't think there's anything that could change that." She said, kissing the tip of his nose. His face broke out into that smirk she loved so much and he beckoned her closer with a finger, indicating he wanted a kiss and Cora obliged. Jasper was so quick to understand. It must have something to do with them being apart for that time in Italy because the once jealous and angry Major she fell in love with was now gone and whether or not he was returning, Cora didn't know.

* * *

The car ride was agonizing to say the least. Cora had offered to drive her and Bella to the reservation herself but Edward insisted he wanted to see her handed off with his own two eyes. Like she was a bag of drugs or this was some sort of drop. As soon as the Volvo came to a stop, Cora hopped out of the car and headed straight for the shirtless men in front of her.

"Good morning, angel" Paul purred, jumping down from the running board and wrapping his arms around the small vampire. She smiled, enjoying his warmth and his smell. The more she was with Paul, the less the dog smell was prevalent.

"Don't they own shirts?" Edward asked a little too loud before seeing Bella off.

"But with my shirt on, however, will I make your gir- Ow!" Cora punched Paul's chest to make him stop his sentence in its tracks. She didn't want to hear any part of that.

"Bella! Sometime today? Huh?" She yelled, getting a disapproving glance from Edward who had released Bella. Paul opened up the door for Cora, who was finally satisfied with Bella's pace to the car.

"Thank you." She said, pecking Paul on the cheek before crawling into the back.

"You're in for a treat, angel. We're going to a party and you have the hottest date around." Paul winked, sliding into the seat next to Cora and throwing his arm around the back of her seat.

"Party?" Bella asked, looking at Jake.

"Council meeting actually." Jake said, looking at Paul in the rearview mirror who had a shit-eating grin on his face.

"I didn't agree to any dates," Cora mumbled, leaning into Paul's arm that he threw around her after they got out of the car. She wasn't cold, she never got cold, but being under his wing felt nice.

"Paul! We got some burgers for you by the fire. Jared tried to shove them all down his gullet but I managed to shove him off." Said a smaller teen who had run-up to the two of them.

"Cora Spencer, Seth Clearwater. The youngest member of the pack." Seth's eyes widened at the ice queen in front of him.

"The sleepless beauty herself? In the flesh? Is it true what you can do with your eyes?" He whispered, geeking out about the vampire in front of him.

"Seth" Paul warned. Cora reached around Paul's torso and gave him a small squeeze.

"Shh, it's fine." She scolded the massive wolf next to her and turned her attention to the teen in front of her. Her eyes flashed brightly and Seth was off the ground, hovering a foot above their heads.

"Woah! You've made your point! I don't like heights!" Cora giggled, setting the boy back down on the ground and latching back onto Paul's side.

"Hey, you asked, man." He said with a shrug, guiding Cora down to the bonfire where Billy Black sat with Old Quil and Sue Clearwater.

"Hey I'm gonna grab something to eat, go sit over by Bella." Paul said into the side of her head, giving her temple a kiss before heading off to where the food was. Cora waved at Billy before taking her seat next to Jake and Bella. Billy gave her a small smile before looking around the circle of tribe members.

"Should I even be here?" Cora whispered to Jake who chuckled.

"You're just as much a member of this community as I am. You should hear things from our side, anyway." Jake said and Cora took an unneeded deep breath just as Paul sat next to her, his plate loaded with food.

"Hey, you okay?" She nodded her head and looked across the fire.

"Yeah, I'm fine." She assured him, smiling as one of his hands gave her upper thigh a small squeeze.

"The Quilieutes have been a small tribe from the beginning, but we have always had magic in our blood." When Billy said magic, his eyes darted to Cora and she avoided his eye contact. She felt uncomfortable enough as it was.

"We were great spirit warriors, shapeshifters that transformed into the powerful wolf. This enabled us to scare off our enemies and protect our tribe. One day out warriors came across a creature." Billy glanced at Cora once more and she was starting to become more angry than uncomfortable. Paul took note and laced his hand with hers, bringing the back of it to his lips. Though freezing, he kept his lips to her hand for a moment in hopes to calm her down.

"It looked like a man, but it was hard like stone and cold as ice. Our warriors' sharp teeth finally tore it apart, but only fire would completely destroy it. They lived in fear that the cold man was not alone...and they were right." Billy continued. Cora squeezed Paul's hand and pressed her cold lips to his hot ear.

"If he looks at me one more fucking time when he says cold one..." She trailed off, her tone threatening. Paul released her hand and put his arm around the vampire, pulling her close to him to encase her in his warmth. She felt calmer when he did this but still irritated with Billy Black's eyes lingering on her during his story.

"She took her vengeance out on the village. Our elder chief, Taha Aki, was the only spirit warrior left to save the tribe after his son was killed. Taha Aki's third wife could see that he would lose. The third wife was no magical being, with no special powers but one, courage." Cora had no idea how gruesome the story of the tribe was. She had never bothered to ask Paul or anyone for that matter. Neither she nor her family had ever encountered anything like the pack when they moved to Washington. Cora snuggled closer into Paul's side as the story continued and she felt a horrid feeling in the pit of her stomach for what her kind had done so many years ago.

"The third wife's sacrifice distracted the cold woman long enough for Taha Aki to destroy her. She saved the tribe. Over time, our enemies have disappeared. But one remains, the cold ones. Our magic awakens when they're near, and we sense it now. We feel the threat in our blood. Something terrible is coming and we must all be ready...all of us." Cora pushed herself to her feet and started to walk towards the road. It had been decades since she had been sick but she felt as if she were to throw up right at this very moment. She ignored the calls from Paul to slow down and the questions from Bella. Right now, Cora just needed some air.

"Hey, angel, you okay?" She spun around, her eyes flashing as she did, causing Paul to stumble back a few feet.

"Woah, last time you did that I ended up with a couple broken ribs." He laughed, trying to lighten the mood. Her face washed over with worry and she reached out, tugging on either side of his jacket.

"I'm so sorry. I...I had no idea..I-" She couldn't cry but, damn, did she feel like she needed to.

"I need to go home." She said just above a whisper and Paul nodded in agreement.

"Hey, yeah, that's fine." He cooed, pulling her in again to walk her to Jake's car where he and Bella were already climbing in to take her home. Wolf telepathy was an amazing thing.

Once Jake pulled up to Bella's house, Cora got out as fast as she could and headed for the treeline. Emmett, Will, and Kiera were supposed to be on watch tonight. One of them could go back with her.

"Hey wait up!" Paul called, snagging her hand and pulling her back to him.

"I shouldn't have brought you. I shouldn't have dropped all of that on you so fast and so so-" Cora silenced him by placing her fingers over his mouth, making him raise his eyebrows.

"No, it's...it's just a lot to take in right now." She sighed, turning when she smelled her siblings coming near.

"I gotta go." She said, leaning up and pressing a small kiss to his cheek.

"Hey shortie, you okay? Need me to kick his ass?" Emmett half-joked. Cora scoffed and shook her head.

"Nah, but thanks. Come back home with me though? I don't want to be alone right now." She said kicking a leaf. Emmett looked to Kiera and Will who waved him off.

"Take her. We got this." Kiera said accompanied by Will's thumbs up. Emmett gestured to the open forest and nodded in the direction of the house.

"Ladies first." Cora laughed and mock curtsied before she blurred off into the woods with Emmett.

* * *

 _ **Seattle is in a state of terror. Police are baffled by the escalating murders and disappearances. Theories range from a vicious new gang to a wildly active serial killer...**_

Cora walked into the den quietly as to not disturb the men that sat there. Carlisle, Daniel, and Jasper sat staring at the news report, trying to make sense of all this madness.

"It's getting worse..." Carlisle trailed off, turning down the television.

"We're going to have to do something," Daniel added, taking note of his eldest in the door. She smiled and rushed behind where he sat, placing her hands on his shoulders and a kiss to his cheek.

"It takes more than one of our kind to cause the damage they're reporting. Quite a few more. And they're undisciplined, conspicuous." Jasper theorized, looking straight at Cora.

"It's newborns." She summarized, sliding her hands off her father's shoulders and walking to where Jasper sat on the couch.

"Like, new vampires?" Cora turned to see Edward and Bella in the door. How she didn't smell them, she didn't know but they startled her. Cora nodded, taking a seat on the arm of the couch next to Jasper and resting her arm on the back of it.

"In the first few months of the change." Edward confirmed for her.

"It's when we're at our most uncontrollable." Jasper said, looking off like he was staring at a bad memory. Cora took note and began rubbing his neck with her free hand.

"Most vicious. Insane with thirst." Emmett crossed his arms over his chest and looked to Bella with a smirk.

"Something to look forward to." Cora scoffed and her eyes flashed. She moved a baseball hat that hung on a hook nearby and smack Emmett in the face with it before her eyes turned back to their original hue.

"No one's trained these newborns, but this isn't random." Jasper said, ignoring Emmett's ignorant comment.

"Someone's creating an army." Daniel concluded.

"Army?!" Sebastian yelled, jumping on the landing in the kitchen with Alice and Rose at his heels to join the group of vampires.

"Well now we definitely have to go to Seattle." Will said, appearing with Kiera at the side door and giving Emmett a high five in the process.

"An army of vampires?" Bella asked, incredulously making Cora roll her eyes. There were a lot of things she missed about being human but this was not one of them.

"And they've been created to fight someone." Jasper concluded.

"We're the only clans close to Seattle." Kiera said, throwing her hand in the air.

"Regardless of why they were made, if we don't put a stop to them, the Volturi will." Carlisle said, folding his hands together.

"Shit, I'm surprised they've let it go on this long." Will said crossing his arms and leaning on the doorframe.

"Maybe they're behind it." Edward reasoned, making Will groan. Alice frowned and rubbed his upper arm before addressing her brother.

"Like we said, Will and I would have seen it," Edward shot the pixie a warning glance that shut her up.

"In Italy, I read Aro's mind. He wants me and Alice to join him, along with Will and Cora. But he knows we'll never choose as long as our families are still alive." Cora sighed and squeezed Jasper's shoulder.

"An army could solve that problem." She said, smiling at Jas as he placed his hand over her own and squeezed. Jasper turned to her and pressed a kiss to the side of her head.

"Over my dead body." He muttered, making Cora smirk.

"That isn't funny." She scolded, trying to be serious but letting a smile through.

"Well what do we do?" Kiera asked. Sebastian nodded in agreement with her. Something had to be done.

"I don't think there's really anything we can do...except prepare." Daniel said with a sigh, leading his wife out of the room to head back to their own home. Edward grabbed Bella and headed for the door with Alice and Sebastian on his heels. It was their turn to watch tonight.

"Oh, Cora!" Bella called, hanging onto the door frame to look at the vampire. Cora turned her attention away from Jasper and gave Bella an inquisitive look.

"Jake and I were going for a walk around the wetlands tomorrow. Paul told Jake to tell me to remind you." Cora nodded her head along to follow that line of command but nodded agreeing anyway.

"Right. Yeah, I'll come get you in the morning." She got out, fumbling over her words. She remembered Paul saying something about it in the car but she was so focused on all of the other events happening around her that she forgot. Kiera headed out with Will to go hunt along Rosalie and Emmett but not before Rose popped her head back in the den.

"You two hungry?" Cora and Jasper both shook their heads.

"I think we'll be just fine, Rose. Thanks." Jas said, nodding to his sister who pat the doorframe a few times before joining the other vampires.

"So another day out at La Push tomorrow, hm?" He said, breaking the silence that Cora had assumed was comfortable. That was naive of her.

"Yep. Wherever the queen of klutz goes, I go. I think it's helping Edward's sanity just knowing that I'm out there with her." Cora said, trying to spin the situation for what it was: Helping Edward and Bella. The last thing she wanted was for Jasper to think this was more beneficial to her than to the family. Was that just something she was trying to convince him of, or herself as well?

"Well..I'm sure you'll have another eventful day. But tonight," He had a devilish look in his eye as he quickly flipped them so Cora was on her back and he hovered over her.

"Will be just as eventful." He promised, leaning down to kiss and nibble Cora's neck, making her gasp. She bit her bottom lip and thrust one hand into his honey locks, tugging a bit to elicit a throaty groan from her Major. They had never discussed the physical part of their relationship. Sure, they pawed at one another from time to time but never fully went anywhere with it. Jasper was always such a gentleman and as much as Cora loved that about her Texan, sometimes it drove her crazy. She knew if she gave Paul even a slight indication she wanted him, he would take charge like the animal inside him and it made her feel things. It made her feel things deep down inside her core. Jasper gripped her thigh, pulling her leg up around his waist and holding it there as his pressed his pelvis into hers, making the small vampire moan at the friction. She had never seen Jasper this was before. He was so forceful, so animalistic. He removed his mouth from her neck and captured her lips with his own as he pulled her onto his hips and standing with vampire speed.

"What has gotten into you?" She asked surprised, a smile plastered across her face as he rushed them upstairs to his room, kicking the door shut with his foot. Jasper laid his love down on the navy sheets and pushed her legs apart with his knees. Cora giggled like a schoolgirl, resting her arms above her head as he slowly undid every button on his shirt until he peeled it off, tossing it across the room.

"What? Am I not allowed to show my adoration for my mate?" He asked not-so-innocently as she ran his hands up Cora's thighs to the hem of her shirt, pulling it up until it was over her head, leaving her in a black bra and jeans.

"Adoration huh?" She mused, pushing him off of her to admire his physique for a little longer. He had his scars up and down his arms, sure, but the scars that adorned his chest and stomach made Cora pool with desire. She reached out for the belt he had on, slowly undoing the buckle, never breaking eye-contact with the southern gentleman that knelt between her legs. Cora pulled the belt from his jeans and tossed it aside before working on the button of his pants. Jasper hovered over her as she did, placing lingering kisses between her breasts and her collarbone as he tugged at her jeans. Cora got his jeans just below his butt before she laughed out at the help she needed to get them off completely. Cora puffed out her bottom lip in a pout as he crawled away from her to stand at the edge of the bed to get his jeans off, leaving him in only a pair of tight boxers. Cora blushed at the sight of him pressed against the fabric. The last time she had any sort of contact like this was in 1970 something when she and Will were trying to convince one another that they were meant for one another. This was much more fun. He stared at her with deep desire in his eyes, a hunger almost. Cora shimmied off her jeans and threw them across the room onto the desk in the corner. She figured she could find them later, she had more important things to tend to now. Jasper bit his bottom lip and stared down at the beauty before him, splayed out on the bed, ready for the taking. He was in awe that his angel before him was his to worship. Jasper lifted her right leg in the air, kissing down her foot to her ankle and all the way up her thigh to the brim of her black panties, hooking an index finger in the waistband to pull them down.

"Oh now that's hardly fair." She whined, making his cock twinge in his boxers. Cora reached down and tugged down his boxers, trying to make the playing field fair. Jasper smirked, helping her with the task and tossing them on the ground, leaving him completely naked.

"I think, you're the one being unfair." He whispered, using one hand to reach behind her back to unclasp her bra and using the other to graze her clit, thumbing over it to gauge her reaction. Cora couldn't peel her bra from her body fast enough, tossing it and immediately placing both hands on either side of Jasper's face to bring his lips to hers as his nails dug into her hips and his fingers made circles around her clit. Cora bucked her hips into his hand, begging for more touch as his head dipped from her lips to her chest. Jasper captured one of her pale pink buds in his mouth and flicked his with his tongue, making Cora arch her back to give him more access.

"Jas." She moaned out, gripping his golden locks with one hand and gripping the bicep that held her up. When he moved to worship the other breast, Jasper pushed two fingers into her, making the small vampire gasp then moan deeply. She curled into his hand, trying to meet his finger thrusts with her hips. Her hands moved from his hair down to his cock, gripping it and making him stop his thrusts for a moment to moan at the contact. Cora smirked, pumping her hand as Jasper tried to meet her pace, making her whine in pleasure.

"Please. Jas." She whined again, releasing him and letting her hand fall to his ass, trying to pull him up to her pelvis. Jasper pulled his head from her chest and placed a singular kiss to her lips before looking deep into her golden eyes.

"Are you sure?" The southern gentleman asked. Cora nodded feverishly, arching her back once again and getting his member to graze up against her hot opening. Cora leaned up, locking lips with her mate, sealing the promise she was about to make to him. Jasper lined himself up at her core, rubbing his tip on her slickness. He let out a groan at how wet she was for him. It was all for him. Cora let out another whine and pushed her hips up to meet him only to be met with a quick thrust by Jasper into her, making her groan out. Cora bit Jasper's shoulder from the sensation in order to stay quiet. The siblings were out of the house but there was no doubt in her mind that Carlisle, Esme, Daniel, and Carina were within earshot of their little love fest.

"Fuck." Jasper swore, making Cora release his shoulder and stare at him wide-eyed.

"I don't think I've ever heard you swear." She said, shocked at the word that had come from her sweet southern gentleman.

"Well, you're about to hear a lot of it, so get used to it." He said, snapping his hips forward and making Cora dig her nails into his shoulder blades.

"Shit. Jasper, you feel so good." She whined, meeting his thrusts with her raising her own hips to him with every push. Jasper pressed his lips to hers, holding himself onto her by her hip. Cora felt a wave coming as Jasper's pace quickened and he hooked her leg around his hips, driving himself deeper into her. She attached her mouth to his shoulder again, biting down as to not scream like she wanted to. His pace became faster and jerky as Cora reached her peak, not being able to keep it in anymore. She stopped biting his shoulder and held onto his back for dear life, letting out a long, deep, loud moan as she came, Just as her wave washed over her, Jasper let out a guttural groan as his thrusts became frantic and slowed before he collapsed on top of Cora. They were both a shiny mess, slick with sweat. Cora tried to slow her panting, a habit she had never broken from when she was human, as she played with the hair at the nape of Jasper's neck.

"I'm so glad we don't have to sleep." She said breathlessly. Jasper smiled, lacing their hands together and kissing her fingers.

"And why is that?"

"So we can do that again and again and again." She said with a devilish smirk.

 **AUTHOR'S NOTE: AAAAAHHHHH a big ass chapter?! That's crazy. You welcome.**


	20. Chapter 20- Dead is Dead

Cora had no intention of leaving the warm embrace that Jasper held her in. If all mornings could be like this, that wouldn't be a bad existence. Being with him was so electric, especially last night. What had gotten into him, she didn't know but she did know that she enjoyed it immensely. She had never felt more relaxed than she did in that moment. That is until her phone started vibrating. Cora sat up quickly and looked around the room frantically for the source of the buzzing.

"Shit." She swore, throwing the sheets off her body and fumbling around in her jeans that landed across the room for the device.

"This is what I call a good morning." Cora turned to see a smirking Jasper sitting up, his arms behind his head resting against the headboard. She rolled her eyes and tossed her jeans at him with a laugh.

"Hello?"

" _Cora, are you on your way?"_ Bella asked over the other line. _Shit_. Cora had completely forgotten about picking Bella up for their trip to La Push.

" _You totally forgot. Didn't you?"_

"No, no. I didn't forget." Cora covered, scrambling around the room, collecting her clothes. She was almost completely put together minus her jeans which Jasper kept a hold on.

" _You did. You forgot."_

"Look, Bella, I don't appreciate the tone right now," Cora said, yanking her pants from Jasper and pulling them up her body.

" _Alright, alright. Just text me when you're on your way."_ Cora ignored the rest of Bella's sentence as she pulled on her shirt and a sweatshirt before rushing out the door and leaving a fully naked Jasper alone.

* * *

Cora took a deep inhale and took in the smell of the firs and the marsh. She loved being outside.

"It's a beautiful day." She said, hooking her arm with Paul's as Jake and Bella walked ahead of them.

"I was worried you were gonna chicken out." He said, squinting into the sun before looking down at the pale woman who sparkled whenever the sun peeked through the trees.

"Me? Never." She chuckled out with a sigh, trying to find the right words.

"So...my graduation is coming up and-"

"What is this for you? Your seventy-fifth?" Cora scoffed and threw a punch to Paul's shoulder, making him chuckle.

"Haha. But there's going to be a big party at the Cullens place and you're totally invited." Paul smirked and raised an eyebrow at his imprint.

"Don't you think that'll be a little awkward? New boyfriend and old boyfriend in the same room."

"Paul you're important to me, you know that. I can't imagine not having you there. Please? For me?" She begged, pulling around to the front of him to stop their stroll. He avoided her eyes as she pouted out her bottom in an attempt to sway his opinion one way or the other.

"Fine. You play a dirty game, Spencer." He groaned, pulling her under his wing and pressing a kiss to the top of her head.

"Only way I know how to Lahote." she teased pecking his cheek in the friendliest way she could.

"Now hows-"

"AGH, Oh my god!" Cora's head snapped from Paul to Bella, seeing her shake her fist and tears fall from her face.

"Oh for the love of Christ," Cora grumbled, rushing over to the two and taking Bella's hand in her own.

"What the hell, Jacob?!" Cora snapped, her brain scattering through the possible ways to explain this to Edward.

"Come on Bella, let's get you to a hospital." Bella cradled her hand into her chest as the small vampire pushed passed the two neanderthals that had taken to one another.

"It's really not that bad," Bella said through clenched teeth, making Cora roll her eyes as she sped down the road to Bella's home.

"Right, try saying that again but with feeling," Cora growled, glancing at the back seat at Paul and Jake in the backseat. As she parked Cora's eyes took note of the headlights behind her and the Volvo that came to a screeching halt.

"Bella, I-"

"If you ever touch her again I will-"

"Oh, this is so none of my business." Cora groaned, leaning up against the hood of her car and crossing her arms as Edward went for Jacob's throat and Bella tried her best to hold them back from one another as she clung her wrist to her chest.

"I got ten on-"

"Paul, so help me GOD, if you finish that sentence, I will murder you," Cora growled. He knew she was angry but the way she said it lit a fire inside of him. Paul slid up onto the hood and motioned zipping his lips shut.

"Fine! And she will!"

"Jacob just go, okay?!" Bella yelled just as the front door opened up revealing Charlie who rushed down the steps to the scene.

"Hey, hey, hey, easy guys. Let's take it down a notch." Charlie said, pushing the teen boys away from one another.

"What's going on?" He asked as the two of them calmed down and Cora hopped off the hood of the car and landed gracefully on her toes before raising her hand.

"Oh, allow me to take this one," Cora said, butting into the conversation only to be held back by Paul who placed his large hands on her shoulders, pulling her back into his chest.

"Simmer down." He muttered to her as Jacob and Edward continued their staredown.

"I kissed Bella...and she broke her hand...punching my face. Total misunderstanding." Jacob explained, leaving Charlie in a shocked state as he tried to absorb what he just said. Cora brushed Paul off and went for her driver's side.

"I'll take her back to the house. We are discussing this later." Edward growled as he passed with Bella in tow. Cora scoffed and rolled her eyes. _If he thinks for one moment that he's going to pin what the horn-dog did on me, he's got another thing coming._

"Cora, wait-"

"Paul, I really don't have the energy right now. I'll see you later." She breathed out, leaning up to kiss his cheek before climbing into her car. She wanted to see Jasper but the impending argument she was going to have with Edward was less than attractive.

"Awh what Bella do this time? Ya try to walk and chew gum at the same time?" Cora caught Emmet's laugh as she plopped herself down on the couch in between Rose and Kiera.

"Yeah, if only." She grumbled, resting her head on the blonde's shoulder.

"Yeah, I uh, punched a werewolf in the face," Bella said as Carlise wrapped her wrist.

"Badass. You're gonna be one tough little newborn." Emmet said and Cora felt Rose tense beside her.

"Tough enough to take you on." Cora frowned as Rose tossed her paper aside and stood up from the couch, quickly making her way out of the room. Cora and Keira shared a disappointed look with one another as the smaller of the two stood.

"Don't worry about her," Emmet said, lightly tapping Bella on the arm.

"Yeah, don't worry about upsetting Rose," Cora said sarcastically, smacking Emmet on the back of his head as she stood, leaning against the doorway to the den.

"Cora, don't even start," Edward said, his face contorted into discomfort and disgust.

"Edward, If you want to take it outside, we can take it outside, I don't mind a little physicality, in fact, I'm pushing for it." She said, propelling herself from the doorway to Edward's face, shoving him backward.

"You're supposed to keep her safe, not let some wolf lay his hands all over her."

"Does my forehead say 'Bella's Keeper'? Are you mental?! I did this as a favor to your sorry ass." She barked, making Edward chuckle ironically.

"Its my fault. I couldn't expect you to keep your head clear while Paul is around now can I." Cora's face fell and her eyes flashed.

"What. Did. You. Say?" She said through clenched teeth, debating on whether or not to toss him through the window or into the ceiling. Suddenly a wave washed over her and her eyes went back to their golden hue. She blinked over and over trying to regain her sense of anger but it never came.

"Jasper, not fair!" She shouted, spinning on her heel to stare down her mate that smirked at her from her former place in the doorway.

"We shouldn't be at one another's throats right now of all times." Carlisle reasoned with his usual calm tone. Cora glanced back at Edward and crossed her arms with a small huff. She knew he was right but she wasn't going to apologize.

"Carlisle's right. We have to focus on the enemy. We are not the enemy." Jasper said, reaching out and hooking one of Cora's belt loops to tug her flush against him.

"That's a dirty trick." She mumbled, resting her cheek on his chest as he embraced her, calming her.

"Any leads?' Edward asked, shoving his hands in his front pockets, visibly calmer than he was moments earlier.

"No signs of the intruder but Victoria continues to make appearances," Jasper said as he ran his fingertips up and down Cora's back. She enjoyed the sensation but her mind was with Rose who had hurried out of the room and up the stairs moments earlier. She glanced to her sister and the two shared a knowing look.

"I'll go check on her."

"No, I will. Go see if Bastian is hungry, he and Alice have been at it all day. They probably need a break." Cora called as she headed for the stairs.

"Take Will with you!" She called just as Keira jumped from the landing down to the treeline. Rose was gazing out the kitchen balcony, gathering her thoughts. Cora knew she couldn't sneak up on her friend and her suspicions were confirmed as Rose turned her head slightly to the landing.

"I'm fine."

"No you're not." Cora chuckled, elbowing the blonde in the side playfully before leaning backward on the railing.

"What does it matter?" Rosalie chuckled ironically. Cora saw the pain in her eyes and her seemingly perpetual scowl. Cora understood though. If things were different, she would have voted no. Jasper, however, needed Bella to be changed more than anyone else and she would do anything for him.

"I know it sucks, alright? I'm right there with you."

"Are you, Cora? Because you seemed pretty happy for her when it came down to a vote." She snapped. Cora sighed and crossed her arms, shuffling through her words before replying.

"Rose, you know how difficult it is for Jas. Granted, if he did end up taking a bite out of her, I can't say I would be necessarily sad..." She trailed off, glancing to Rose to see if she had elicited a response. Rose chuckled a bit and Cora continued.

"But you know I would do anything for him. You think I don't look back like you do and dream of the life I could have had?" Rose became quiet and Cora could feel she was battling with herself.

"You've never...you never told me how you died..." She was right. Rose had told her the night that their family had dinner but she never gave her best friend her side. Cora smiled sadly and took an unneeded deep breath.

"Well, where to start..." Cora exhaled.

"I was a volunteer for the Red Cross during the war. I was supposed to be stationed at an Army hospital after nurse cadet school but the influx of soldiers was too much at the time." She explained, raking through where even to begin the tale.

"I was taking care of this man who was beaten up pretty bad. A bomb went off and he broke so much he was in a full-body cast for a while. I remember helping him up one day and he asked me on a date, it was the silliest thing. I thought 'Now why is this man so hell-bent on going on when he can't even use the bathroom by himself?'" She chuckled as his face flashed through her memory.

"Well, I ended up back in college after the war and he was out of my brain. That is until I came out of class one day and the most handsome man I had ever seen, dressed in his army blues was waiting out front. He asked me out right then and there and I never looked back. James Lockkond was the most charming gentleman I had ever met. You know the type." Cora said reluctantly and Rose nodded. She had her fair share of experience with charming southern men, unfortunately.

"Well he got called up again and I cried and cried for months. Before he left he asked me to marry him and I said yes on the condition he had to come home to me..." She trailed off as more memories flooded her brain.

"I got a knock on my door about a month later saying he was killed in a friendly fire incident. I lost it...I drank away the pain and one night I ran out of bourbon so I got in my car and I drove off a bridge on my way to the store. I was so mad at Daniel and Carina for finding me over that bridge and bringing me back. I was mad at them for years until we found Sebastian and I finally had something that was mine. Something I could take care of since I was now bound to this eternally perfect body with no hope of age or children...I think that's the part that hurts the most." She chuckled ironically. Rose reached out and placed her hand on Cora's shoulder.

"I had no id-"

"Don't apologize. Please. I'm fine, now, obviously. I guess it's taught me, if anything, that people should get to choose. Bella should get to choose like I didn't." She said finally just as Bella's scent hit them both in the face.

"Be nice," Cora muttered.

"I didn't mean to interrupt anything." Bella stammered and Cora waved her off.

NOTE: **Ha! Bet ya'll thought I forgot. I didn't. Here's a drabble.**

"I was just leaving. Don't mind me." She said, slinking out and leaving Rosalie with the potential newborn.


End file.
